Ford shares close higher on Wednesday, ownership rule easing in China expected to accelerate Zotye JV approval

In a statement during an auto show in Beijing on Wednesday, Peter Fleet, Ford Motor Companys (F) President for the Asia Pacific region, said he hoped the latest initiative by Chinas government to ease ownership rules in the local auto market would accelerate regulatory approval of Fords electric vehicle joint venture with Chinas Zotye Automobile Co Ltd.

Ford shares closed higher for the second time in the past seven trading sessions on Wednesday. The stock went up 1.37% ($0.15) to $11.11, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $11.16 and $10.87 respectively.

In the week ended on April 22nd the shares of the global automotive company lost 4.08% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the second drop out of seven weeks.

However, due to yesterdays gain, the stock has neutralized earlier losses and is now up 0.27% so far during the current month, following a 4.43% surge in March. The latter has been the best monthly performance since September 2017.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed auto maker rose 2.97% following a 13.91% slump in 2016.

Earlier in April, the Chinese government announced that a limit on foreign ownership of all automotive ventures would be removed by 2022 in an attempt to open up the local market.

At the same time, foreign ownership limits on new-energy vehicle ventures in the country are expected to be scrapped later in 2018.

Fords Asia head also said the change in rules was not expected to otherwise have a significant impact on the US auto makers strategy in China.

According to CNN Money, the 22 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Ford Motor Company’s stock price, have a median target of $12.50, with a high estimate of $15.00 and a low estimate of $8.00. The median estimate is a 12.51% surge compared to the closing price of $11.11 on April 25th.

The same media also reported that 19 out of 24 surveyed investment analysts had rated Ford Motor Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 4 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for Fords stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $11.14
R2 – $11.16
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $11.19
R4 (Long Breakout) – $11.27
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $11.36
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $11.41

S1 – $11.08
S2 – $11.06
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $11.03
S4 (Short Breakout) – $10.95
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $10.86
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $10.81

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Ford Motor Company (F) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $11.03
R1 – $11.27
R2 – $11.73
R3 – $11.97
R4 – $12.22

S1 – $10.57
S2 – $10.33
S3 – $9.87
S4 – $9.42