All three major benchmarks are firmly higher ahead of the open
Stock futures are higher this morning, as investors unpack a host of corporate earnings as well as economic data. Gathering the most attention, gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a 2.4% annual rate in the second quarter, which is higher than Wall Street's anticipated 2% increase. Meanwhile, jobless claims dropped to 221,000 -- their lowest reading since February, durable goods orders jumped a higher-than-expected 4.7% in June, and the U.S. trade deficit in goods was narrowed to $87.80 billion.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are up triple digits ahead of the open, following the blue-chip index's 13th consecutive win, while the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) soars 222 points above fair value after strong earnings from Meta Platforms (META).
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.7 million call contracts and over 944,880 put contacts exchanged on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.55 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.65.
- Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is down 5.2% premarket, after higher costs cut into second-quarter profits. LUV has been sliding since its mid-July peak at the $39 region, which has consistently kept a lid on gains this year. Heading into today, the equity is up 7.7% year-to-date.
- AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) is up 2.2% in electronic trading, following the pharmaceutical name's second-quarter results beat and strong 2023 forecast. Since the start of the year, ABBV is down 12.2%.
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The shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) are up 8.8% before the bell, after the cruise line lifted its annual profits forecast, citing strong demand. The company also posted strong second-quarter results. Should these gains hold, RCL will hit a fresh three-year high.
- Today will also bring pending home sales.
ECB Raises Rates
Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday following the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. Investors were also digesting industrial profits data out of China, which marked a 16.8% year-to-date decline. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the gainers with a 1.4% pop, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7%. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4%, and China’s Shanghai Composite shed 0.2%.
European markets were last seen higher, after the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to hike interest rates by 25 basis points, with officials noting inflation “is still expected to remain too high for too long.” France’s CAC 40 and the German DAX were last seen up 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively, while London’s FTSE 100 is 0.3% higher.