Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor. Stocks are poised for a potential rebound on Thursday, as futures show a modest uptick ahead of the opening bell. Retail behemoth Walmart, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) saw premarket gains following its above-consensus second-quarter results and an upgraded full-year forecast. As the market gears up, the focus is likely to shift toward outcomes from a regional manufacturing survey, jobless claims, and the leading economic index, all while monitoring the ascent of bond yields.
Cues From Wednesday's Trading:
The minutes of the July FOMC meeting that suggested the central bank remains concerned about inflation dragged the market lower on Wednesday. Traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve minutes, even as they digested fairly in-line housing starts data and stronger-than-expected industrial output data. Moody's warning regarding the potential downgrade of banking stocks also kept sentiment muted.
The averages began declining by early afternoon trading ahead of the minutes and continued to languish below the unchanged line for the remainder of the session.
All three averages clocked their second straight session of losses, while the Russell 2000 is down for three consecutive sessions. The S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 Index pulled back toward their lowest level since early July and the Dow Industrials ended at a one-month low.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell to its lowest closing level since June 26.
All but the defensive utility stocks moved to the downside, with communication services, IT, consumer discretionary, energy, and healthcare stocks seeing marked weakness.
US Index Performance On Wednesday
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.15% | 13,474.63 |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.76% | 4,404.33 |
| Dow Industrials | -0.52% | 34,765.74 |
| Russell 2000 | -1.28% | 1,871.52 |
Analyst Color:
Hawks appear to be ruling the day, said LPL Financial chief economist Jeffrey Roach.
“The Fed's 2% inflation target is averaged out over the long run and since committee members are highly attentive to the lagged impacts from tighter policy, it's completely possible that the Fed could pause this year despite inflation above 2% in the near term,” the economist said.
The economist also called attention to a key event scheduled for next week. “Investors should keep an eye on next week's Jackson Hole event as global policymakers focus on any structural shifts in the global economy,” he said.
Futures Today
Futures Performance On Thursday
| Futures | Performance (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | +0.20% |
| S&P 500 | +0.20% |
| Dow | +0.19% |
| R2K | +0.44% |
In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) rose 0.27% to $440.82 and the Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) gained 0.22% to $363.33, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Upcoming Economic Data:
The Labor Department is scheduled to release its routine 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 240,000 for the week ended Aug. 12 compared to 248,000 for the week ended Aug. 5.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve is due to release the results of its regional manufacturing survey at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The diffusion index of business activity may have improved slightly from -13.5 in July to -10 in August.
The Conference Board’s leading economic index will be released at 10 a.m. EDT. The consensus estimate calls for another month’s decline, although improving from a 0.7% drop in June to 0.4% in July.
The Fed will auction four-week and eight-week bills at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
See also: Best Futures Brokers
Stocks In Focus:
- Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) rose over 3% in premarket trading following the release of its quarterly results.
- Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) rallied over 6%, while Wolfspeed, Inc. (NYSE:WOLF) plunged over 13%, in reaction to their quarterly reports.
- Bilibili, Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI) and Children’s Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) are among the companies due to release their quarterly results before the market opens.
- Notable among those reporting after the close include Bill Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BILL), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Farfetch Ltd. (NYSE:FTCH), and Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST).
Crude oil futures rose 0.74% to $79.97 in the early European session on Thursday after retreating about 2% in the previous session. The commodity is advancing for the first time in four sessions.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.044 percentage points to 4.302%, with yields topping the 4.3% threshold for the first time since late-Oct. 2022.
The major Asian markets ended lower, as Fed rate fears pervaded into the regional markets, but China bucked the downtrend amid hopes of government’s handholding as the economy grapples with a soft patch.
European stocks showed tentativeness in late-morning trading and traded marginally lower.
Read Next: Inflation Concerns Rekindle Rate Hike Debate: What 5 Top Economists Say After July FOMC Minutes Reveal
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