All three major benchmarks are higher before the open
Stocks futures are pointed higher this morning, following yesterday's massive rally, as investors unpack a slew of bank earnings. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are looking to open with a triple-digit pop, while futures on the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) and S&P 500 (SPX) are eyeing solid gains of their own.
In other news, U.S. retail sales fell flat in September, missing analysts' expectations of a 0.3% gain, while import prices dropped for the third-straight month -- falling 1.2% amid declining fuel prices.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Why Chevron stock could be a surefire bet.
- A deeper look at Domino's Pizza's revenue beat.
- Plus, unpacking JPM's earnings; NTNX surges on potential buyout; and grocery store giant merges with Kroger.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.3 million call contracts and 895,568 put contracts traded on Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.66, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.68.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) is 1.4% higher premarket, after the company's third-quarter profits and revenue beat expectations due to higher net interest income. Should these gains hold, JPM will extend its recent bounce off two-year lows. Year-to-date, the equity is down 30.9%.
- Nutanix Inc (NASDAQ:NTNX) is surging ahead of the open, up 18.5% at last check, and set to begin trading at its highest level since May. Boosting the equity are reports that the company is considering a sale. Heading into today, the stock is down 40% year-over-year, though it has found recent support at the $20 level.
- Albertsons Companies Inc (NYSE:ACI) is down 4.6% before the bell, after the grocery giant announced it was merging with fellow grocery powerhouse Kroger (KR) in a $24.6 billion dollar deal. Quarter-to-date, though, ACI has added 15.2%.
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The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index and inflation expectations, as well as business inventories are also due out today.
Asian, European Markets Higher
Asian markets settled higher on Friday, mirroring Wall Street’s overnight gains as investors brushed off hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data. Leading the gainers was Japan’s Nikkei with a 3.3% pop, followed by South Korea’s Kospi 2.3% rise. Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively, with the tech sector boosting the latter.
European markets are also higher, amid reports that the U.K. might reverse $48.6 billion of unfunded tax cuts. British Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was also just fired after only six weeks on the role, and Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to give a press conference later today. In other news, the Bank of England’s (BoE) temporary purchases of long-dated U.K. government bonds end today. At last check, France’s CAC 40 is up 1.3%, the German DAX is 0.9% higher, and London’s FTSE 100 is eyeing a 0.8% gain.