Stock Futures Hold Gains After Trade Data
The Dow is aiming for a fourth consecutive up day
Investor hope for a potential Fed rate cut has stock futures trading above fair value, setting the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) up for a fourth straight win. Also in focus are President Donald Trump's tweets about immigration and tariff discussions with Mexico from last evening, in which he wrote, "Progress is being made, but not nearly enough!" Elsewhere, the President told reporters new tariffs a could be levied on another $300 billion in Chinese goods.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims came in near expectations, with 218,000 Americans filing for unemployment benefits, while productivity for the first quarter was downwardly revised to 3.4% from 3.6%, and the goods trade deficit with China jumped nearly 30% in April to $26.9 billion. Still, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) look poised to join the Dow in positive territory at the open.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Inside the bullish betting around ROKU's record high. What to expect when these 2 software names report. Analysts react to Huawei victim's latest update. Plus, 2 huge earnings moves; and Tesla builds momentum after low.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 964,134 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 616,954 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio moved down to 0.64, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.71.One of the biggest pre-market moves is coming from online fashion expert Stitch Fix Inc (NASDAQ:SFIX). The shares are set to open up almost 30% after an impressive quarterly earnings beat, setting them up for their best day ever. SFIX stock actually made a similar jump after earnings in March, but basically did nothing but move lower afterward. On the flip side, At Home Group Inc (NYSE:HOME) could open down 37% after disappointing earnings, which the company is blaming on adverse weather conditions. The shares were already down more than 50% year-over-year, and the pre-market losses would have them trading near record-low territory. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is trying to battle back from Monday's three-year low, up 2.9% before the opening bell, eyeing a third straight win. There's buzz about strong Model 3 demand from May that could be helping the electric automaker, after a string of bad headlines and analyst notes have buried TSLA stock in recent months. Today's schedule features the Fed balance sheet. New York Fed President John Williams will speak, and several companies will reveal earnings, including Wall Street rookie Beyond Meat (BYND), Guess (GES), JM Smucker (SJM), Signet Jewelers (SIG), and Zumiez (ZUMZ).
ECB Decision Buoys European Shares
Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday, failing to build on another big day on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei settled directly below breakeven, while the Shanghai Composite in China lost 1.2% as telecommunications stocks sold off on news Beijing granted 5G licenses to several major network operators. South Korea's Kospi was closed for the holiday.
The European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to put off any interest rate hikes until 2020 has European investors celebrating today. All major markets are up midday, with France's CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 each boasting a 0.4% lead, and a 0.3% gain from the Frankfurt DAX, so far.