Dow futures are 450 points lower
Stock futures are lower this morning, as investors digest today's inflation data. March's consumer price index (CPI) reading came in much hotter than expected, rising to 0.4% for the month and 3.5% in the last 12 months -- both higher than economists anticipated.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down 450 points, while Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are also substantially lower. In addition, the 10-year Treasury yield surged back above 4.5%, and the CME FedWatch Tool now points to just a 20.6% chance that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in June.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The best and worst SPX sectors during the rally.
- What's left for gold after this record-setting run?
- Plus, Delta's record revenue; Alibaba's praise; and NVDA enters correction territory.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.2 million call contracts and 917,304 put contracts exchanged Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.72, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.71.
- Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) reported record-setting sales for the first quarter, as well as earnings per share that topped analysts' estimates. The travel name also issued an upbeat current-quarter forecast. In response, DAL is up 2.7% before the bell, as it looks to add to a 17.6% year-to-date lead.
- U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) are 1.7% higher in premarket trading, after the e-commerce company's co-founder issued a memo to employees. Jack Ma praised Alibaba's current leadership and future growth, while acknowledging his past mistakes. Should these premarket gains hold, BABA will take a chunk out of its 5.8% year-to-date deficit.
- Shares of outperforming semiconductor firm Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) are officially in correction territory, after pulling back 10% from recent highs and seeing five losses over the last six sessions. Excitement over its artificial intelligence (AI) chips helped shares add more than 72% in 2024, but they are down 2.2% before today's open.
- The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes are due out this week.
Corporate Inflation Drags Asian Markets Lower
Asian stocks were mostly in the red today, dragged lower by corporate inflation data in Japan that increased to 0.8% – in line with expectations -- for a third-straight month. The Nikkei shed 0.5%, while China’s Shanghai Composite gave back 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng zigged with a 1.9% pop, while South Korea’s Kospi was closed for holiday.
In Europe, bourses were higher ahead of the CPI data and Fed minutes stateside. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 and German DAX were up 0.8%, while the French CAC 40 is 0.7% higher.