Crude futures are trading higher after exploring bear-market territory
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are trading above fair value, with the blue-chip index on track to bounce back amid stabilizing oil prices. After oil slipped into
bear-market territory yesterday, the now front-month August-dated crude futures have tacked on 0.5% to trade at $43.72 per barrel ahead of this morning's weekly crude inventories update. Futures on the
S&P 500 Index (SPX) and
Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are also higher before what looks to be an up day for U.S. stocks.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- 20 stocks to buy now, courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- AMD stock's big surge could spook short sellers.
- How to take control of your retirement savings with options.
- Plus, Uber's C-suite shake-up; CarMax stock set to pop post-earnings; and Target gets downgraded.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 702,015 call contracts traded on Tuesday -- the fewest since April 18 -- compared to 507,122 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.72, and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.63.
- After announcing a leave of absence last week, Uber founder Travis Kalanick said he would resign as the company's CEO amid pressure from top investors, but will remain on the board. The ride-hailing service has faced intense scrutiny following a barrage of sexual harassment and discrimination scandals, which led to a mass firing earlier this month.
- CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX) reported first-quarter earnings of $1.13 per share on $4.54 billion in revenue -- better than what analysts were expecting -- while same-store sales for used cars rose by a higher-than-anticipated 8.2%. KMX stock is set to open the session up 8%.
- Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) was downgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Citi, with the brokerage firm citing increased competition from other retailers. TGT stock is trading 0.8% lower ahead of the bell, and could stage another test of the round $50 mark.
- Existing home sales are due. Oracle (ORCL) will report earnings.
Overseas Trading
Stock markets throughout Asia remained under pressure as oil prices continued their drop. The one outperformer was China's Shanghai Composite, which managed a 0.5% win after the MSCI decided to include mainland Chinese stocks in its emerging markets fund. However, the Hang Seng still fell 0.6%. In Japan, the Nikkei lost 0.5%. Traders there digested news that Toshiba has chosen a consortium of investors as its preferred bidder for its chip business. South Korea's Kospi also closed lower, losing 0.5%.
Oil prices are also pushing European stocks into the red. In the U.K., investors are watching a steep sell-off in lending stock Provident, while also keeping a close eye on a speech from Queen Elizabeth. At last check, the FTSE 100 was down 0.6%. Germany's DAX has also shed 0.5% today, making France's CAC 40 the biggest loser so far, down 0.8%.