Index futures trading point to a slightly positive start on Thursday, with some key Main Street data likely directing the market. Sentiment could remain guarded as traders look ahead to the 3-day Jackson Hole Symposium that kickstarts on Thursday, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivering his address on Friday. Earnings news has been mixed. With traders baking in a September rate cut, the near-term catalyst is likely to be Nvidia, Inc.’s NVDA earnings due next week.
“Move over, Fed, it's all about Nvidia's earnings on August 28th. The waiting is the hardest part,” said Gina Bolvin, President of Bolvin Wealth Management Group.
| Futures | Performance (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | +0.07% |
| S&P 500 | +0.06% |
| Dow | +0.07% |
| R2K | +0.20% |
In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY climbed 0.16% to $561.50, and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ gained 0.18% to $483.38, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session:
U.S. stocks ended Wednesday’s session higher, rebounding from the previous session’s slide, as traders relished the dovish message from the Federal Open Market Committee’s July meeting minutes and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual revision taking down the non-farm payroll numbers sharply.
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index stayed mostly above the unchanged line, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively more volatile. All three closed firmly in the green. Small-caps outperformed the major indices, with the Russell 2,000 advancing 1.32%.
The S&P 500 is now closing in on its all-time high of 5,667.20 hit on July 16 and the Nasdaq Composite ended at its highest levels since July 17.
Most S&P 500 sectors, baring energy and financials, ended higher for the day, with consumer discretionary and material stocks seeing particular strength.
| Index | Performance (+/) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | +0.57% | 17,918.99 |
| S&P 500 Index | +0.42% | 5,620.85 |
| Dow Industrials | +0.14% | 40,890.49 |
| Russell 2000 | +1.32% | 2,170.56 |
Insights From Analysts:
In a report released ahead of BLS’ annual revision, Morgan Stanley’s Lisa Shalett said Wall Street analysts' current profit estimates appear ambitious, calling for accelerating and double-digit growth rates over the next six quarters, even as margins are already near record highs.
She said slowing nominal GDP will hurt companies’ pricing power and profitability, adding that gains from falling costs and the advantages of a strong U.S. dollar may also fade. If companies choose to cut labor, in response, and job losses rise significantly, it could put the soft landing at risk, she added.
Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick noted that the S&P 500 Index has been above the 200-day moving average for more than 200 days now. This has happened three times in the past and on those three instances, the index stayed above the 200-day MA for another 277 days, 242 days, and 195 days, he said. “If you are bearish b/c this is a long rally, be careful,” he added.
Upcoming Economic Data
- The Labor Department is scheduled to release the weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, expect the number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits to come in at 230,000 for the week ended Aug. 17, up from 227,000 in the previous reporting week.
- S&P Global will release its flash manufacturing and service sector purchasing managers’ indices for August at 9:45 a.m. EDT. The consensus estimates call for the manufacturing PMI to edge down from 49.6 in July to 49.5 in August, and the service PMI is expected at 54 for August, down from 55 in July.
- The National Association of Realtors is due to release the existing home sales report for July at 10 a.m. EDT. Existing home sales may have come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.94 million units for July, up from June’s 3.89 million units.
- The Treasury will auction four- and eight-week notes at 11:30 a.m. EDT and 30-year TIPS at 1 p.m. EDT.
See Also: How To Trade Futures
Stocks In Focus:
- Agilent Technologies, Inc. A rose over 2% in premarket trading following the company’s quarterly results announcement.
- Among the other stocks moving on earnings are Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN (down over 10%), Snowflake Inc. SNOW )down over 9%), Zuora, Inc. ZUO (up over 7.50%), Wolfspeed, Inc. WOLF (up over 8%), Synopsys, Inc. SNPS (up over 2%), and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM (up over 3.50%).
- Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP, Baidu, Inc. BIDU, Bilibili Inc. BILI, NetEase, Inc. NTES, BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ, Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ, Peloton Interactive, Inc. PTON and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM are among the notable companies due to release their quarterly results before the market opens.
- Those reporting earnings after the close include BILL Holdings, Inc. BILL, CAVA Group, Inc. CAVA, Intuit Inc. INTU, Ross Stores, Inc. ROST and Workday, Inc. WDAY.
- Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW slipped over 4% after Toronto-Dominion Bank TD sold shares in the former to provision for $2.6 billion in potential fines from U.S. regulators.
Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures rose marginally, while gold futures slipped further away from their record high. Bitcoin BTC/USD rose following the FOMC minutes and approached the $61K level and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 4.2 basis points to 3.818%.
The Asian markets had a mixed session, while European stocks were higher in early trading on Thursday.
Read Next:
Photo via Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
