Gold is pacing for its worst daily drop in about a month
Stock futures are pointing toward a muted open, with Wall Street's concerns surrounding the Delta variant's impact on economic recovery weighing on sentiment; especially following Friday's dismal August jobs report. In fact, Goldman Sachs (GS) downgraded its economic outlook this weekend, slashing its annual growth and fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) outlook estimates. At last check, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are all just below breakeven. Meanwhile, gold futures are looking to log their sharpest daily fall in nearly a month, thanks to the strengthening U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Schaeffer's V.P. of Research Todd Salamone addresses the seasonally weak period for stocks.
- Breaking down the delta of an option.
- Plus, JD.com's c-suite shakeup; Boeing's billion-dollar bluster; and a fresh upgrade for Spotify stock.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.8 million call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 904,697 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.50 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.52.
- JD.Com Inc (NASDAQ:JD) announced a new president. Xu Lei, current CEO of JD Retail, will assume the day-to-day operations of JD.Com, after the company's founder and CEO Richard Liu decided to step back from such duties. JD was last seen moving higher, up 1.7% in electronic trading, which brings the stock closer to overcoming its 9% year-to-date deficit.
- The shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) are 0.7% lower ahead of the open, after a multi-billion dollar deal fell through. Specifically, one of Boeing's biggest customers, Ryanair, said it ceased talks to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of 737 MAX 10 jets, in response to a pricing dispute. Boeing stock has shed 12.7% over the last three months, closing the gap on its 1.9% year-to-date lead.
- Music streaming staple Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) stock is popping, up 4.2% before the market's open, after KeyBanc upgraded the equity to "overweight" from "equal weight," with the firm citing Spotify's impressive user base growth. However, Spotify stock still has a ways to go to fix the 20.9% deficit it's amassed in 2021.
- Things start of slow, as no economic data is slated for release today.
Chinese Stocks Boosted by Hong Kong's Quarantine-Free Decision
Markets in Asia were mostly higher today, with the exception of the South Korean Kospi, which ended the day with a 0.5% loss. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7%, as retail stocks jumped after it as was announced that Hong Kong will allow quarantine-free admittance to mainland visitors starting Sept. 15. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite added 1.5%, amid economic data showing the country’s exports rose a better-than-expected 25.6% year-over-year in August. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei tacked on 0.9%.
Over in Europe, markets are mostly lower, as investors await Thursday's European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. According to Germany's ZEW survey, economic sentiment dropped to 26.5 in September from the previous month's 40.4, and the German DAX is down 0.08% at midday. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 is up just 0.02%, while London's FTSE 100 is 0.2% lower.