Earnings Boost Stock Futures
The Dow will try to erase its small weekly deficit
It's another major session for corporate earnings on Wall Street, and well-received results from a number of big names have stocks on pace for a positive open. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading almost 100 points above fair value, benefiting from the post-earnings moves from blue chips Intel (INTC) and American Express (AXP). The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are eyeing higher starts, too, though the Dow and SPX will need strong sessions to end the week in positive territory.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Why options traders jumped on Netflix. A drug stock due to bounce. Plus, struggling drug firm makes moves; Broadcom pops on Apple deal; health insurance stock surges.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.35 million call contracts traded on Thursday compared to 730,903 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio was 0.54, and the 21-day moving average was 0.51.The shares of Sonoma Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SNOA) are up 27% in pre-market trading on news the company is considering a sale of its dermatology unit. This comes after SNOA stock has shed almost one-quarter of its value in the past year, while touching a record low of $3.33 back on Nov. 26. Semiconductor giant Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) is sporting a 3.4% gain before the open thanks the new multi-year agreements with Apple (AAPL) to supply the tech firm with wireless components. AVGO stock, meanwhile, recently bounced from double-barreled support near the $300 level and 80-day moving average. Preliminary fourth-quarter results from eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ:EHTH) have the shares of the online health insurer set for a nearly 16% surge at the open, which would have them flirting with fresh 52-week highs. The company gave a stronger-than-expected revenue outlook for the period, which has brought in at least three price-target hikes from analysts. Data on the Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and the Markit's services PMI is due out today. For earnings, traders can expect reports from American Express (AXP), Hill-Rom (HRC), and Synovus Financial (SNV). Next week the earnings schedule picks up in a major way.
Coronavirus Remains in Focus
Markets in Asia continue to eye the coronavirus death toll, which now sits at 26. China's Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi were both closed ahead of the Lunar New Year that begins on Sunday. That left Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei as the only indexes open around the region. The former pared earlier losses and closed up 0.2%, while the latter relied on a strengthening yen to gain 0.1%.
Over in Europe, stocks took positive cues from the World Health Organization's (WHO) comments yesterday that the coronavirus was not yet an international concern. There's a also slew of flash PMI (purchasing managers' index) figures to unpack; the euro zone's fell short of estimates and stayed at 50.9 in January, but signaled an encouraging 2020 outlook. London's FTSE 100 is up 1.6%, after its PMI exceeded expectations. Rounding out the region, French CAC 40 is up 1.1% and the German DAX is 1.5% higher, at last check.