The SPX and NDX are signaling lower starts, too
It's a busy morning on Wall Street, with traders eyeing another round of blue-chip earnings. Intel (INTC) stock is bracing for a big drop on the chipmaker's weak outlook, and oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM) is also lower after earnings. Elsewhere, traders are digesting the the latest gross domestic product (GDP) reading, which showed the U.S. economy grew at a much faster-than-anticipated 3.2% in the first quarter. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures were below fair value, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) were signaling slow starts, too, even as FAANG stock Amazon (AMZN) pops post-earnings.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.2 million call contracts traded on Thursday, compared to 690,907 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.60, while the 21-day moving average dropped to 0.60.
- Raymond James upgraded Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY) to "outperform" from "market perform, and lifted its price target to $57 from $55 -- a 35% premium to last night's close at $42.21. This follows the photo book specialist's slimmer-than-expected first-quarter per-share loss on strong revenue. SFLY stock is already up 5.6% week-to-date, and is slated to jump 6.3% at today's open.
- A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed Uber Technologies Inc. has a target valuation for its initial public offering (IPO) in a range of $80.5 billion to $91.5 billion, and priced its IPO at $44 to $50 per share. The filing also revealed PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) will invest $500 million in the ride-sharing service. Uber will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) early next month, under the ticker UBER.
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) stock is up 6.8% in electronic trading, after the automaker reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of 44 cents per share. A price-target hike to $10 from $8 at Craig-Hallum is stoking the bullish flames, putting F stock on track to trade in double-digit territory for the first time since August.
- Consumer sentiment data is due, while Archer Daniels Midlands (ADM), Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), and Sony (SNE) will report quarterly results. The earnings calendar is packed next week, too, while jobs data will also be in focus.
Tokyo Stocks Drop as Yen Strengthens
Most Asian markets ended lower today, tracking Wall Street's soft Thursday finish. China's Shangai Composite fell 1.2%, South Korea's Kospi was down 0.5%, and Japan's Nikkei lost 0.2% as the yen strengthened ahead of the upcoming Golden Week holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bucked the trend to inch 0.2% higher.
European stocks are little changed at midday. The German DAX is 0.09% higher, despite a post-earnings slide from Deutsche Bank, and the French CAC 40 is also up 0.09% after tech giant Sopra Steria surpassed first-quarter revenue estimates. The London FTSE 100, however, is down 0.2% after Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) would be investigating the mining concern for "corrupt practices."