The market is about to close out a winning first half of the year
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are down over 30 points ahead of the bell, as Wall Street prepares to close out a successful second quarter and first-half of the year. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are inching lower as well, following several consecutive days of intraday highs. Meanwhile, according to the ADP employment report, a better-than-expected 692,000 private-sector jobs were added in June.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Addressing options sentiment by sector, with Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- Options bulls bet on upside for faltering Fuelcell stock.
- Plus, STZ's quarterly report; SPCE dips on double-downgrade; and LVS rises as travel restrictions loosen.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, and 872,441 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.43 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.43.
- Brewery name Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) reported first-quarter earnings of $2.33 per share, which is just below analyst estimates of $2.34, as well as breakeven revenue. In pre-market trading, STZ is up 0.4%.
- Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) is down 5.3% before the open, after a rare double-downgrade from Bank of America Securities to "underperform" from "buy." The firm sees the stock as accurately valued, and notes that it will dwindle as commercial space peers go public.
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Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE:LVS) is up 2% in electronic trading, after news that border restrictions between Hong Kong and Macau will ease in mid-July, as there is currently a 14-day quarantine rule. Simpler travel to Macau will likely give LVS a boost.
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Today will bring the Chicago PMI, and the pending home sales index
Covid-19 Variant Continues to Weigh on European Stocks
Asian markets settled on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite in China led the gainers, adding 0.5%, despite slowing growth in the country’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which took a hit as a Covid-19 resurgence disrupted activity in its major export province of Guagdong. The South Korean Kospi also saw a slight pop, coming in with a 0.3% win for the day as tech stocks in the region surged. The Hong Kong Hang Seng took a 0.6% haircut, as investors eyed the debut of China-based drug stock Hutchmed, as well as a Hong Kong exchange filing in which China’s largest bad-debt manager Huarong Asset Management said it cannot know for certain when it will release its financial results for 2020. The Nikkei in Japan, meanwhile, finished flat with a 0.07% drop.
European markets are swimming in red ink today, pressured by the global rise in the Delta Covid-19 variant, paired with concerns over accelerating inflation. A slew of economic data was released throughout the region. In the U.K., first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data showed a 1.6% quarter-on-quarter drop, coming in slightly lower than expected, while business investment shed 10.7%. Out of the euro zone, an inflation reading showed a slight drop in June to 1.9%, though the number is expected to topple 2.5% be the end of the year. In the wake of all these economic readings, the London FTSE 100 is off 0.4%, the French CAC 40 is 0.5% lower, and the German DAX has shed 0.7%.