Benzinga - Early indications suggest a notably lower opening by Wall Street stocks on Thursday, as disappointing earnings reports from big names such as Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) weighed on sentiment.
Cues From Wednesday’s Trading:
Stocks ended Tuesday’s session on a narrowly mixed note for a second straight session, reflecting the jittery mood of the market. Traders were reacting to a spike in bond yields and the mixed earnings news flow.
The major averages opened the session notably lower but recouped their losses over the course of the morning session. While the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 Index managed to sneak above the unchanged line in late trading, their paths diverged resulting in a narrowly mixed close. The Dow Industrials languished in negative terrain throughout the session before ending modestly lower, with healthcare and tech stocks serving as drags.
| Nasdaq Composite | +0.03% | 12,157.23 | |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.01% | 4,154.52 | |
| Dow Industrials | -0.23% | 33,897.01 |
The dramatic short positioning, based on the widely followed Commitment of Traders, is the most since 2011, said Quincy Crosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. Bulls believe this will provide a tremendous source of momentum at the right time when the S&P 500 makes its move decidedly higher, he said.
“The market is clearly in waiting mode, with the shorts ready to move instantaneously with an abundance of liquidity; the kind contrarians love to see,” Crosby said. The analyst said the focus would be on corporate guidance this earnings season.
“For the bulls, it is crucial to have more S&P 500 names cross their 200-day moving averages in order to convert the bears who cling to the long list of economic considerations, including the debt ceiling challenges.”
Futures Today
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | -0.96% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | -0.67% | |
| Dow Futures | -0.42% | |
| R2K Futures | -0.86% |
Upcoming Economic Data:
The Labor Department will announce its jobless claims data for the week ending April 15 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits may have increased from 239,000 in the week ended April 8 to 239,000.
Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index due at 8:30 a.m. EDT is expected at -20 in April, slightly better than the March reading of -23.2. The index is a measure of how the manufacturing sector is faring in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve District.
The National Association Of Realtors is due to release its existing home sales report for March at 10 a.m. EDT. Sales of existing homes may have edged down from 4.58 million units in February to 4.59 million units.
The Conference Board is scheduled to release its leading indicators index for March at 10 a.m. EDT. The leading index is expected to have fallen by 0.8% month-over-month in March, steeper than the 0.3% drop in February.
The U.S. Treasury is due to auction 8- and 4-week bills at 11 a.m. EDT and 5-year TIPS at 1 p.m. EDT.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman is due to speak at 3 p.m. EDT.
See also: Best Futures Trading Software
Stocks In Focus:
- In reaction to its quarterly results, Tesla shares shed over 7% in premarket trading. Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) fell over 3%, while IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) rose over 1.5%, following the release of their respective quarterly results.
- Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) jumped over 4% after the casino operator reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
- Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK), American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), AT &T, Inc. (NYSE: T), Blackstone, Inc. (NYSE: BX), D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Nokia Oyj (NOK), Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) and Philip Morris International, Inc.(NYSE: PM) are among the companies reporting before the market open.
- CSX Corp.(NASDAQ: CSX), Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KNX) and Seagate Technology Holdings plc. (NASDAQ: STX) are among the notable companies reporting after the market close.
- Tesla: Mizuho maintains Buy and lowers price target from $250 to $230; Citigroup maintains Neutral rating and reduces price target from $192 to $175
- Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAM): KeyBanc maintains Overweight rating and ups price target from $174 to $187.
- Amazon, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Telsey Advisory Group reiterates Outperform rating and $125 price target
- Fastly, Inc. (NYSE: FSLY): Morgan Stanley upgrades from Underweight to Equal-Weigh and increases price target from $12 to $18
Crude oil futures were extending their slide in the early European session, down 1.70% at $77.89. On Wednesday, crude futures slumped over 2% to settle below the $80 psychological resistance.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 0.047 percentage points to 3.555%, thus dropping below the 3.6% threshold.
Asian stocks closed Thursday’s session on a lackluster note, unimpressed by the lead from Wall Street overnight. Traders in the region largely ignored the People’s Bank of China’s decision to hold fire. European stocks were lower in late-morning trading after a strong recent run-up, as the focus shifted to earnings news.
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