All three major indexes are sporting strong premarket gains
Stock futures are surging this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) up 581 points at last check, after this morning's batch of upbeat bank earnings and a key inflation report.
The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.4% in December, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 2.9%, while the Fed's preferred core CPI rose 0.2% for the month and 3.2% for the year -- both 0.1% less than analysts expected.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including: .
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2 million call contracts and 840,418 put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.41 and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.61.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, while net income jumped 50%. The stock is up 0.4% before the bell, and carries a 46.4% year-over-year lead.
- Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) are up 2.4% premarket, after the bank giant also announced a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, with help from a rebound in Wall Street deals and strong trading revenue. Since last January, the equity is up 51.3%.
- Quantum computing stock Rigetti Computing Inc (NYSE:RGTI) is up 14% in electronic trading, after Microsoft (MSFT) announced its new quantum ready program. Plus, B. Riley raised its price target on RGTI to $8.50 from $4 and maintained its "buy" recommendation. Should these gains hold, the equity will trim some of its 41.3% January deficit.
- Even more bank earnings are coming up this week.
Inflation Data Emerges Out of the U.K.
Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, as investors weighed macroeconomic updates and political developments. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%, supported by news that President-elect Donald Trump’s economic team is considering phased tariff implementations, fueling cautious optimism about future trade policies. South Korea’s Kospi inched lower after impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was detained weeks after his failed martial law declaration, while the country’s unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in December, the highest since June 2021. In Japan, the Nikkei slipped 0.08% after the benchmark 10-year government bond yield rose to a 13-year high. Rounding out the region, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%.
Cooler-than-expected inflation data out of the U.K. is helping European stocks move higher today. According to official data, inflation in the area fell 2.5%, helping British borrowing costs ease from multi-decade highs. At last check, Germany’s DAX is 0.9% higher, London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.7%, and France’s CAC 40 boasts a 0.6% midday lead.