Dow futures are firmly lower this morning
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are staring at a 136-point drop this morning, unable to build on yesterday's triple-digit flourish. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also firmly in the red, even after Amazon.com's (AMZN) quarterly results came in well above analysts' estimates.
Yesterday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted the central bank will need to see sustained inflation at 2% before hiking up interest rates. Meanwhile, fresh personal consumption expenditures data revealed prices have already added 1.8% over the past 12 months.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Buy the dip on CVS stock.
- This agriculture name tends to make big post-earnings moves.
- Plus, Twitter could face a user growth slowdown; more on Amazon.com's blowout report; and why Clorox slashed its full-year forecast.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.7 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 842,877 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.47 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.46.
- Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is down 12.9% before the bell, despite the company reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue. Instead, what is weighing down on the social media concern are its warnings of a potential user growth slowdown, as well as rising expenses. TWTR is up 109% year-over-year.
- E-commerce behemoth Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is up 1.9% ahead of the open. The company beat quarterly earnings expectations for the fourth straight quarter, and also posted a revenue beat. AMZN is up 46% in the last 12 months.
- The shares of Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) were last seen down 4.1% in electronic trading. While the cleaning company's quarterly earnings came in above analysts' estimates, revenue ultimately missed the mark. Additionally, higher commodity and freight costs led Clorox to trim its full-year forecast.
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Today features the employment cost and consumer sentiment indexes, in addition to the Chicago purchasing managers' index (PMI). Plus, traders will be expecting consumer spending and personal income data.
Asian Markets Fall Despite Stateside Gains
Stocks in Asia closed lower today, despite a positive Thursday from their U.S. counterparts. China's Shanghai Composite ended 0.8% lower, after the country's Purchasing Manager's Index fell to 51.1 in April from the previous month's 51.9. The South Korean Kospi and Japan's Nikkei also fell 0.8%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng had the worst day with a 2% drop.
In Europe, shares are mixed at midday after economic data for the region showed gross domestic product falling by 0.6% for the region, marking the second-straight quarter of contractions. France's economy, however, grew by 0.4% this quarter, and its consumer spending jumped by 0.3%. Still, the French CAC 40 is down 0.2% at last check, while London's FTSE 100 and the German DAX are up 0.07% and 0.3%, respectively.