The Dow is up 143 points ahead of the open
The major benchmarks are on the rise ahead of the open, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures up 143 points at last glance, as inflation concerns continue to ease, boosting S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures as well. Traders are now awaiting consumer sentiment data, due out later this morning, as they unpack news that U.S. import prices fell for the first time this year, down 1.4% in July. Elsewhere, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the “Inflation Reduction Act,” which was already passed by the Senate and includes billions to help fight climate change.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Cisco Systems revealed a major cyberattack.
- Ridesharing stock running into bearish trendline.
- Plus, ILMN sinks after earnings; POSH lower on mixed quarterly results; and OLO hit with downgrades.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.61 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 825,230 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.51, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.68.
- Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) is down 14.1% premarket, after the company's worse-than-expected second-quarter results and disappointing full-year revenue forecast. No fewer than eight analysts cut their price objectives, including Atlantic Equities, which slashed its price target to $190 from $285. ILMN had been rising from its July 14, five-year low of $173.45, but remains down 40.2% year-to-date.
- The shares of Poshmark Inc (NYSE:POSH) are down 1.9% before the bell, after the secondhand marketplace posted wider-than-expected second-quarter losses, but better-than-expected revenue. Stifel raised its price target by $2 to $14, while Wedbush slashed its own by $2 to $14. POSH hit its highest trading levels since April yesterday, but is still down 24.4% in 2022.
- Software name Olo Inc (NYSE:OLO) is down 34.8% in electronic trading, after the company lowered its full-year revenue forecast. Piper Sandler downgraded OLO to "neutral" from "overweight, while Stifel lowered its rating to "hold" from "buy." Both firms threw in price-target cuts as well, as did two other analysts. So far this year, the security is down 37.6%.
- A look at the economic data on deck next week.
Stocks Higher in Asia, Europe
Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday. The Nikkei in Japan led the gainers, returning after yesterday’s holiday to add 2.6%, amid news that finance giant SoftBank would tack on 4.6 trillion yen, or $34.5 billion, to its pre-tax gains by offloading some its stake in Chinese tech name Alibaba (BABA). Meanwhile, the South Korean Kospi rose 0.2% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng added 0.5%. The only loser, China’s Shanghai Composite, shed 0.2%, after chip stocks took a hit on the country’s biggest manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation’s shaky second-quarter earnings report.
In Europe, stocks are on the rise as investors sift through a number of key economic readings throughout the region including a preliminary U.K. gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the second quarter, which showed a 0.1% quarter-on-quarter contraction. Analysts were expecting a bigger 0.3% contraction for the quarter. In response, the London FTSE 100 is up 0.4%, the French CAC 40 is 0.2% higher, than the German DAX has added 0.5%.