Wall Street is hopeful the Fed will still cut interest rates by June
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are both trading near breakeven this morning, after the major indexes yesterday scored a fourth-straight monthly win. Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are just modestly higher, on the heels of the tech-heavy benchmark's record close. Wall Street remains hopeful the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates by June, with yesterday's inflation data likely reinforcing those expectations.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Retail stock draws pre-earnings bull notes.
- Workday stock pullback could be for the better.
- Plus, more C-suite drama at New York bank; chip stock eyes more record highs; and why PLUG is plummeting.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.4 million call contracts and 930,510 put contracts exchanged Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.64, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.70.
- New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) stock is down 20% ahead of the open, following news that executive chairman Alessandro DiNello will take over as president and CEO, as the bank struggles with internal control issues and scrutiny around its real estate exposure. NYCB has already shed more than 53% in 2024.
- The shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) are looking to extend yesterday's rally, which brought the stock to a record high of $193. The equity sports a 3.1% lead before the bell, and an impressive 145.9% year-over-year lead.
- Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) reported a wider-than-expected loss for 2023, as it invested in growth and expansion. The company will also lay off 298 employees to reduce costs. PLUG is down 5.7% in premarket trading, and shed 75.1% over the past 12 months.
- Next week brings the ADP jobs report and more retail earnings.
Asian Stocks Mostly Higher After Economic Data Release
Stocks in China rose today, after the country’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) for February came in at 49.1 -- in line with expectations -- while the private manufacturing final PMI came in above 50 at 50.9, which indicates an expansion. China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5%. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.9% to settle just below its recent record highs of 40,000, while the South Korean Kospi shed 0.4%.
Over in Europe, bourses are on the rise as investors are monitor the euro zone’s consumer price index (CPI) data, which fell to a reading of 2.6% from January’s 2.8%, though above estimates of 2.5%. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.6% at last glance, while the German DAX climbs 0.5%, and the French CAC 40 inches 0.05% higher.