Futures tied to the Dow and Nasdaq are up triple digits
Stock futures are higher across the board Monday morning, rebounding from a downbeat week thanks to two major catalysts. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are up triple digits, as investors react positively to a round of bank earnings. Elsewhere, retail sales jumped 0.7% in March, beating expectations.
In other news, Iran attacked Israel on Saturday. The drone and missile strikes caused minimal damage, and though retaliation concerns remain there's optimism that there won't be a major interruption in oil supplies.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Revisiting last week's inflation readings.
- China headwinds pressured 2 chip stocks.
- Plus, Goldman Sachs' earnings; oil stocks respond to Iran's attack; and a surging REIT stock.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts and 1 million put contracts exchanged Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.68, while the 21-day moving average held steady at 0.71.
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) helped kick off a week rife with earnings from major financial institutions. The bank name reported first-quarter earnings of $11.58 per share on $4.13 billion in profit, both of which beat analysts' expectations. Up 4% premarket, GS is looking to add to its slim 1% year-to-date gain.
- Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) stock is 0.4% higher before the bell, after Iran's drone attack on Israel this weekend resulted in less damage than anticipated. XOM is up 20.4% this year.
- The largest hospital landlord in the U.S. and real estate investment trust (REIT) Medical Properties Trust Inc (NYSE:MPW) is selling its interests in five Utah hospitals for $886 million. MPW boasts a 23.8% premarket lead following the news, as it looks to overcome an 18.7% year-to-date deficit.
- The Fed's Beige Book and retail sales data are coming this week.
Overseas Stocks React to Middle East Conflict
Asian markets took a hit today, as geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel reached a boiling point, after the former launched over 300 drones at military targets in Israel over the weekend. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.7% but pared steeper losses, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4%, with small caps falling to two-month lows. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave back 0.7%, while China’s Shanghai Composite was the region’s only winner, adding 1.3% ahead of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data due out tomorrow.
Bourses in Europe are choppy, with oil stocks vulnerable amid the turmoil. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 was marginally lower, the French CAC 40 and German DAX are 1.1% higher.