Nasdaq futures are managing a modest lead
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are pointed firmly lower, following yesterday's 703-point pop, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures sit flat, and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures manage a modest gain. Bank earnings are continuing to roll in, with the latest upbeat results from Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS). Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield has pulled back sharply from its early-week highs.
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5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2.6 million call contracts and over 1.5 million put contracts exchanged on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.58 and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.61.
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UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) is down 4% premarket, after
the company posted disappointing fourth-quarter revenue, though earnings did beat estimates. Should these losses hold, it will cut a great deal into UNH's minor 4.7% year-over-year lead.
- Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) is down 1.9% before the bell, reversing its earlier gains. The retailer raised its fourth-quarter sales forecast after record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, but neglected to raise its profit outlook. The stock has been climbing since its mid-November lows, but is still down 4.6% since last January.
- Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is off 2.9% in electronic trading, despite posting a fourth quarter earnings beat and its highest FICC revenue in over 10 years. The the equity is up 46.6% heading into today.
- Looking ahead, Housing data is due out tomorrow.
South Korea Shocks, Keeps Rates Steady
Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, tracking gains from Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s Kospi each rose 1.2%, with the latter benefiting from the Bank of Korea’s (BoK) unexpected decision to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 3%. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3%, following a 3.8% year-over-year increase in the country’s producer price index (PPI) for December. Rounding out the region, China’s Shanghai Composite also gained 0.3%.
European markets are pointed higher today, driven by strong earnings from Richemont and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), boosting luxury goods and tech stocks, respectively. Optimism is further fueled by cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data. At last glance, France’s CAC 40 was 2% higher, London’s FTSE 100 has gained 0.6%, and Germany’s DAX was up 0.3%.