The PPI reading for March was cooler than expected
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are pointed above breakeven today, after another key inflation report. Last month's producer price index (PPI) -- a measure of wholesale prices -- rose just 0.2%, which is less than the 0.3% analysts had anticipated. Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also higher, as investors eye the beginning of another earnings season.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- Due to technical issues, there is no Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) data for yesterday's session.
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) will acquire Alpine Immune Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:ALPN) for $4.9 billion, or $65 per share. Vertex will add the company's povetacicept, a potential treatment for a type of kidney condition, to its portfolio. Up 36.5% before the bell, ALPN is looking to add to its impressive 524.7% year-over-year lead.
- Shares of Carmax Inc (NYSE:KMX) are 8% lower in premarket trading, on track to breech its its year-to-date breakeven mark. This comes after the online car retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that were worse than analysts expected.
- Blue-chip sports apparel retailer Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) stock is 2.2% higher ahead of the open, after BofA Securities upgraded it to "buy" from "neutral" and hiked its price target by $3 to $113. Coming into today, NKE is down 18% in 2024.
- The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes are due out this week.
ECB Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged
Asian stocks were choppy today, as the consumer price index (CPI) data stateside faced off with consumer inflation in China that came in at 0.1% in March, lower than the expected 0.4% climb but down from the 0.7% figure in February. China’s Shanghai Composite tacked on 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%. The Soth Korean Kospi eked out a 0.07% gain, though political gridlock looms after liberal opposite parties took seats in the parliamentary election. Rounding out the region, Japan’s Nikkei gave back 0.4%.
In Europe, investors are unpacking the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to hold interest rates steady. ECB President Christine Lagarde indicated that rate cuts in June were a distinct possibility. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.3%, the French CAC 40 is 0.2% lower, and the German DAX is nursing a 0.7% loss.