Stocks staged an unprecedented rally yesterday
Stock futures boast a solid premarket gain, following yesterday's record-setting rally that came on the heels of the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Meanwhile, retail sales inched higher in November, rising 0.3% against economists' expectations for a decline, while jobless claims fell 19,000 last week to their lowest level since mid-October.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Avoid this retail stock during the holiday season.
- Analyst sees challenges ahead for car rental stock.
- Plus, Adobe's earnings; FL's bull note; and Moderna's vaccine update.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more nearly 1.6 million call contracts and more than 1.8 million put contracts traded Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 1.16, and the 21-day moving average rose to 0.69.
- Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) is 3.7% lower premarket, extending yesterday's post-earnings drop. While the software company beat fiscal fourth-quarter expectations, it issued a weaker-than-expected guidance for fiscal 2024. Year to date. ADBE is 85.5% higher.
- Piper Sandler upgraded Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) to "overweight" and hiked its price target to $33, calling the retailer stock a best situated "turnaround" story. Up 3.9% in electronic trading, FL is looking to add to its 64.4% quarter-to-date lead.
- Shares of Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) are 12% higher before the open and attempting to pare some of their 56.2% year-to-date deficit, following data from a mid-stage trial. The data showed that an experimental cancer vaccine created by Moderna and Merck (MRK) helped patients with melanoma cancer reduce the risk of death or relapse after three years.
- Employment and inflation data are set to close out the week.
Stateside Interest Rate Decision Boosts Overseas Stocks
Asian markets were mixed on Thursday, as investors reacted to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep rates unchanged, with cuts to come. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.7%, as financial stocks tanked ahead of next week’s policy move from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.3%, while South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.
European markets are enjoying tailwinds from the stateside Fed decision. Plus, the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) kept their interest rates steady, with the latter also cutting its growth outlook. The German DAX is up 0.6%, and earlier crossed the 17,000 level for the first time. Meanwhile, France’s CAC 40 is up 1.2%, and London’s FTSE sports a 1.7% gain.