Stock Futures Flat After Strong Weekly Performance

All eyes are on the Fed this week

Emma Duncan

Managing Editor

Aug 19, 2024 at 9:01 AM

Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are flat ahead of the open. The lattermost is coming off its best weekly performance of 2024, following a volatile week that included several bouts of upbeat economic data. This week, all eyes are on Wednesday's release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes and a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

Energy stock boasting support.
Chip stock lands rare analyst upgrade.
Plus, 2 downgrades dragging big-name stocks and cosmetics name suffering a post-earnings plunge.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 2.1 million call contracts and 1 million put contracts exchanged on Friday. The single-session equity put/call fell to 0.51, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.66.
Shares of software name HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) are down 2% before the bell, after the company suffered a bear note at Morgan Stanley. The brokerage downgraded HPQ to "equal weight" from "overweight," citing limited upside potential. HP stock is fresh off a bounce at the $32 level and sports a 19% lead for 2024.
Dutch Bros Inc (NYSE:BROS) is off 2.4% pre-market, weighed down by a downgrade to "neutral" from "overweight" at Piper Sandler. The brokerage firm pointed toward an adequately balanced risk-to-reward range. BROS has struggled to maintain its long-term gains, with today's drop set to drag the equity's year-to-date performance to breakeven.
Cosmetics brand Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) is off by more than 2% ahead of the open, struggling after reporting a weak first-quarter and full-year outlook. EL has been spiraling lower since early 2022, earlier this month hitting a seven-year low of $86.05. It was also reported that CEO Fabrizio Freda is planning to retire in 2025.
Stay up-to-date with the latest earnings and economic schedule.

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Slew of Economic Data Sends Asian Stocks Mixed

Asian markets were mixed on Monday, as investors looked ahead to the Bank of Korea’s interest rate decision, inflation data out of Japan, and China’s one- and five-year loan prime rate announcements, all due out this week. They also unpacked Japan’s worse-than-expected core machinery orders for June, which contributed to the Nikkei’s 1.8% slide. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9%, while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

European markets are higher, looking to extend last week’s tailwinds ahead of the U.S. Fed’s meeting minutes. The German DAX is up 0.3%, brushing off tumbling defense stocks after Germany announced it will stop new military aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, France’s CAC 40 boasts 0.4% lead, and London’s FTSE is 0.04% higher.

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