All three major indexes are staring at their first monthly loss since March
Stock futures are struggling for direction as they close out a tumultuous September, with all three major indexes staring at monthly losses for the first time since March. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are looking at a 50-point drop. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are waffling at fair value.
Elsewhere, investors are still trying to digest a vicious presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, which did very little to ease concerns of a close-call electoral process that could lead to neither candidate conceding, and therefore severely impact the market. In other news, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) national employment report showed private companies added 749,000 jobs in September, better than the expected 600,000. Also on Wall Street's radar this morning are promising comments from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who is "hopeful" about the prospects of a second stimulus deal.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White dives into what to expect from the fourth quarter.
- RH stock surged after a bull note from Cowen and Company.
- Plus, Walt Disney announces theme park layoffs; behind Regeneron's successful experimental COVID-19 treatment; and Palantir makes market debut.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw more than 1.4 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, and 563,700 put
contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.49 and the
21-day moving average jumped to 0.54.
- Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is down 1.8% in pre-market trading, after the company announced it will be cutting 28,000 theme park jobs as the pandemic continues to impact its hospitality and entertainment business, and Disneyland resort remains closed due to California restrictions. The security is down 13.3% year-to-date.
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) is up 1.1% before the bell, after the biotechnology company said its coronavirus drug was effective in treating early stages of the disease, improving symptoms and reducing virus levels in less severe cases. Year-over-year, REGN is up a whopping 106.7%.
- Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), a software company specializing in data analytics, is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) this morning with a reference price of $7.25 per share. In other words, the company is valued at $15.8 billion ahead of its market debut.
- Investors' attention is shifting to the latest gross domestic product (GDP) reading. On top of that, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) will also come out, accompanied by pending home sales and crude oil inventories data.
European Markets Drop in Response to U.S. Presidential Debate
Stocks in Asia were mixed once again on Wednesday, as investors reacted to China’s latest manufacturing activity data. Specifically, China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) topped analyst estimates for September, and came in higher month-over-month from August. China’s Shanghai Composite nevertheless fell by 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8%. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.5%, with the country’s recent telecommunications shakeup creating mixed results across the board. Rounding out the region, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9%.
European stocks fell in response to last night’s U.S. presidential debate. Another big factor weighing on worldwide investor sentiment is the increase in global coronavirus cases. In response, France’s CAC 40 is down 0.6%, while the German DAX was last seen down 0.5%. Lastly, London’s FTSE is down 0.2%.