Futures on the Dow are around 233 points higher
Stock futures are eyeing another move higher this morning, as investor optimism rises after the Federal Reserve update yesterday. In other news, weekly jobless claims data, which totaled 351,000 in the U.S. for the week ended Sept. 18, was well above Wall Street's forecasts of 320,000. Despite the steeper-than-expected results, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are up roughly 233 points, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are poised for higher opens as well.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- This blue-chip healthcare stock could soar even higher.
- Is it time to buy the dip on Newmont stock?
- Plus, Salesforce ups its guidance; social media loving SoFi; and Biogen's bull note.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 743,781 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.48, and the 21-day moving average fell to 0.50.
- The shares of Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) are up 2.8% ahead of the open, after the software company upped its full-year 2022 revenue guidance to between $26.25 billion to $26.35 billion. Year-to-date, Salesforce.com stock is up 16.5%.
- SoFi Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SOFI) is up 2% in electronic trading, and, according to quiver quant, is the 6th most-mentioned stock on Reddit's WallStreetBets forum. SoFi stock jumped 11% during yesterday's session thanks to a bull note from Jefferies, and is up 35.4% year-to-date.
- Drugmaker Biogen (NYSE:BIIB) is 1.2% before the opening bell, after Needham initiated coverage with a "buy" rating and price target of $400. The analyst in question said in a note to clients that the company's controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm will boost sales in the long term. In 2021, BIIB has tacked on 18.2%.
- Today also brings the Markit manufacturing PMI and Markit services PMI. In addition, leading economic indicators, real household net worth, and real nonfinancial debt data is on the agenda.
Chinese Stocks Pop After Evergrande Pledges to Pay
Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday, after China Evergrande Group’s chairman said the company will prioritize helping wealth investors redeem their products. Though it is still unclear how the embattled real estate concern will pay interest on a dollar-denominated bond due on Thursday, the security still surged 17.6%. In response, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2% as other property developers also gained, while China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei was closed for the day.
European markets are also generally higher, as investors sift through comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, and cheer on their decision not to taper economic stimulus yet. In other news, euro zone business activity grew at its slowest pace in five months in September, and the Bank of England (BoE) decided to keep its monetary policy the same, while also projecting slower economic growth for the third quarter. At last check, France’s CAC 40 and the German DAX are both 0.8% higher, while London’s FTSE 100 is sitting just below breakeven with a 0.02% loss.