U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday after ending on a mixed note on Wednesday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher, except for the small-cap gauge Russell 2000.
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States has reached a "Full and Complete Trade Deal" with the Republic of Korea, worth $450 billion.
Jerome Powell announced the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee’s decision to keep the interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, with Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller dissenting the decision. This was the first dual dissent from Fed board members since 1993.
Apart from this, Wall Street is also bracing itself as the tech giants, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will be reporting earnings today.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.36% and the two-year bond was at 3.93%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 59% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged for the Sept. 17 decision.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.39% |
| S&P 500 | 1.00% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 1.34% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.17% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 1.10% at $640.85 \, while the QQQ advanced 1.38% to $575.87, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session:
On Wednesday, information technology and utilities stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher, while materials, real estate, and energy stocks recorded the biggest losses among S&P 500 sectors.
U.S. stocks settled lower overall, after Federal Reserve Chair Powell stated “no decision” had been made on a September rate cut.
Individually, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shares jumped around 27% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter EPS and sales. Conversely, Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) fell 15% following worse-than-expected quarterly EPS and sales.
On the economic data front, U.S. pending home sales declined by 0.8% from the previous month in May, following a 1.8% gain in April.
The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3% in the second quarter, rebounding from a 0.5% contraction in the previous quarter. Private businesses in the U.S. added 104,000 jobs in July, surpassing market estimates of a 75,000 increase.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.15% | 21,129.67 |
| S&P 500 | -0.12% | 6,362.90 |
| Dow Jones | -0.38% | 44,461.28 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.47% | 2,232.40 |
Insights From Analysts:
Brian Rehling, the head of global fixed income strategy at Wells Fargo, said that market sentiment is favorable for risk assets, but things can always change.
He advised the investors to “consider rebalancing portfolios to take advantage of all-time highs in many markets.”
He highlighted that risk assets continue to hit new milestones, underscoring a resilient economy. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) recently hit new all-time highs.
“It's hard to find a risk asset that has not done well this year with major indexes up significantly year-to-date, highlighting a favorable backdrop for investors,” he said.
According to him, several factors are contributing to this positive momentum.
He said, “Corporate earnings have exceeded expectations at the highest rate in recent years, particularly in technology and health care. Recent trade developments, including deals with the European Union and Japan, have helped alleviate some global trade uncertainties, supporting market sentiment. Additionally, the Federal Reserve is likely to lower interest rates this fall, which would be conducive to growth, encouraging business expansion and consumer spending.”
Overall, these elements, as per Rehling, paint an encouraging picture for risk assets where innovation in areas like artificial intelligence continues to drive value creation.
However, he highlighted that “Markets do not rise indefinitely without interruptions; periodic pullbacks — such as corrections of 10% or more — are a normal part of the cycle and occur somewhat regularly.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Detrick of Carson Research highlighted in a memo that one of the most popular economic indicators is the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI), and it currently points to a recession.
However, he pointed out that this index did not reflect the overall economy and cited his own proprietary LEI.
“Right now, our version of the LEI says the U.S. economy is growing below trend, i.e., it's slowing, but the index is nowhere close to recession-like levels. At least for now,” he stated.
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Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Thursday:
- The initial jobless claims data for the week ended July 26, the second quarter’s Employment Cost Index data, June personal income, spending, and the headline and core PCE Index data will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- July’s Chicago Business Barometer (PMI) will be out by 9:45 a.m. ET.
Stocks In Focus:
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) was up 0.22% in premarket on Thursday as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.58 per share on revenue of $11.31 billion before the opening bell.
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was slightly below the flatline by 0.005% as it is expected to report earnings after the closing bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $1.42 per share on revenue of $89.04 billion.
- Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) jumped 3.44% as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.31 per share on revenue of $161.87 billion before the opening bell.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) jumped 11.50% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter financial results, issuing third-quarter sales guidance above estimates.
- Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 8.53% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issuing a strong forecast for the current quarter.
- Arm Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARM) declined 6.54% as it missed the first-quarter revenue estimate of $1.055 billion, with the sales coming in at $1.053 billion. The adjusted earnings of 35 cents per share were in line with the analyst estimates.
- Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell 4.88% despite better-than-expected third quarter results as its phone-related sales rose 7% to $6.33 billion, lower than the analyst estimate of $6.48 billion
- VerifyMe Inc. (NASDAQ:VRME) surged 50.10% after its subsidiary, PeriShip Global, LLC (a logistics provider), entered into a UPS Digital Channel Program Agreement with United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) and UPS Worldwide Forwarding, Inc.
- Confluent Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) dropped 29.66% after announcing a $200 million investment aimed at expanding its global partner ecosystem.
- IMPINJ Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) climbed 21.10% after reporting second-quarter results as its revenue and adjusted EPS exceeded the company’s guidance.
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) was 2.60% higher as Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest acquired 3,351 AMD shares. This purchase aligns with AMD's recent momentum, as the company raised the price of its MI350 AI chip by $10,000, bringing it to $25,000 per unit.
Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.07% to hover around $70.05 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 1.12% to hover around $3,312.99 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was lower by 0.10% at the 99.7160 level.
Asian markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday, as Japan's Nikkei 225 and India's S&P BSE Sensex indices rose. While China’s CSI 300, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, South Korea's Kospi, and Australia's ASX 200 indices fell. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.
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