The IMF says "the worst is yet to come"
Stocks are struggling for direction this morning, with futures on the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) sitting slightly below fair value after the tech-heavy index yesterday settled at two-year lows. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures are flat.
JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon's prediction that the U.S. will likely see a recession in the next "six to nine months" is weighing on sentiment, as Dimon also forecast another 20% dip in the SPX, hinging on the Federal Reserve's next move. Plus, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said "the worst is yet to come," and expects global growth to slow to 2.7% in 2023.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Chip stock sees bull note despite sector slump.
- Options are red-hot on this volatile steel name.
- Plus, BLK hit with downgrade; analyst praises LULU; and Zscaler President resigns.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.02 million call contracts and 671,192 put contracts traded on Monday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.65, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.68.
- UBS downgraded BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) to "neutral" from "buy," and cut its price target to $585 from $700. The analyst noted risk in the bank concern's ESG investing, adding that expense flexibility may be limited. This comes just ahead of BlackRock's third-quarter earnings report, due out before the open on Thursday, Oct. 13. BLK is down 1.8% in premarket trading, adding to its 25.1% six-month deficit.
- Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU), on the other hand, is up 2.4% ahead of the bell, following an upgrade from Piper Sandler to "overweight" from "neutral." The analyst cited continuous sales momentum, and pointed out a growth opportunity for LULU's outerwear segment during the fall and winter months. LULU has shed 26% in 2022.
- Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) is adding to yesterday's 7.6% drop, down another 3.6% before the open, on news the cloud company's president Amit Sinha has resigned to take a position at a privately held tech firm, though he will remain on Zscaler's board.
- Today the NFIB small-business index and the New York Fed's 5-year inflation expectations will be released.
Global Growth Concerns Hit European Markets
Falling chip stocks continued to pressure Asian markets on Tuesday, though China’s Shanghai Composite managed to escape with a 0.2% win. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.2%, after SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics shed 5.2%, 10%, and 24.6%, respectively. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.6%, while the Kospi in South Korea took a 1.8% haircut ahead of a major interest rate decision from the country’s central bank.
Stocks in Europe are moving lower as well, weighed down by concerns over global growth outlook, potential monetary policy tightening, and escalation in Ukraine. Earlier today, the Bank of England announced an expansion of its emergency bond-buying program, aiming to calm the chaotic bond market as it warned of a “material risk” to the country’s financial stability. In response, London’s FTSE 100 was 0.9% lower at last glance, while the CAC 40 in France and the DAX in Germany were down 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.