There's still uncertainty about the extent of the interest rate cut later today
Stock futures are pointed modestly higher this morning, with all of Wall Street awaiting the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision, due out at 2 p.m. ET. Investors are widely anticipating the first rate cut in four years, though there is still uncertainty whether it will be a half- or quarter-point move. In the meantime, this morning's economic data showed housing starts increased sharply in August, exceeding expectations, as mortgage rates continue to cool.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- How stocks could fare after the election, per Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- This fintech stock doubled options traders' money.
- Plus, SEDG downgraded, INTC extends rise, and SHOP receives bull note.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 1.6 million call contracts and 829,698 put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.51 and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.65.
- Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) stock is soaring this morning, up 51.1% premarket, after the space exploration name secured a multi-billion dollar contract from NASA. Heading into today, LUNR is already up 111.4% year to date.
- V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) stock is up 3.3% before the bell, after the retailer was upgraded by Barclays to "overweight" from "equal weight." Should these gains hold, VFC will hit a fresh 2024 high and break into positive territory for the year.
- Shares of ResMed Inc (NYSE:RMD) are down 2.2% at last look, after Wolfe Research downgraded the medical device company to "underperform" from "peer perform." The firm cited increasing competition from Eli Lilly's (LLY) drug, GLP-1. RMD is up 45.8% year to date, and hit a two-year high just last week.
- What's coming up this week on Wall Street.
Unpacking Imports, Exports Data out of Japan
Major bourses moved higher in Asia today, though markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for holidays. Investors are waiting for the highly anticipated Fed rate news out of the U.S. as they unpack Japan’s August imports and exports data, which rose 2.3% and 5.3% year-over-year, respectively. Plus, Japan’s machinery orders fell a worse-than-expected 0.1% last month. For the day, Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite both finished up 0.5%.
Also awaiting U.S. data, European markets are moving lower. Inflation numbers for August in the U.K. came in at an unchanged 2.2%, and traders are now looking to the Bank of England’s (BoE) policy decision, due out later this week. London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.6%, France’s CAC 40 is off 0.5%, and Germany’s DAX is just below breakeven at last check.