Stock prices open with little changeStocks opened little changed Wednesday.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were trading around flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points, or 0.15%.
— Samantha Subin
Boeing, Alphabet and Blackstone are among the biggest movers pre-market.
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.
Boeing — Shares fell 1.8% after the aerospace company withdrew a pay raise offer it offered to its 33,000 machinists who have been on strike since mid-September. Negotiations broke down again this week, and the continued strike will cost Boeing more than $1 billion a month in losses, S&P Global Ratings announced Tuesday as part of a negative outlook on Boeing’s credit rating. Tuesday’s court filing gave the federal court a wide range of options to end the illegal monopoly on search, including setting limits and issuing a breakup order. Reddit — After Jefferies initiated research coverage with a buy rating, the stock has a more than 2% up rating and a high price target. The investment firm cited tailwinds from advertising and data licensing.Read here for the complete list.
— Peer Singh
Raymond James says hurricane issues have historically been a headwind to Disney’s operating profitsAs Florida prepares for the effects of Hurricane Milton, Raymond James says if history is any guide, the storm could be a headwind for Disney’s Orlando theme park.
Analyst Rick Prentiss said, “While hurricanes are generally seen as non-recurring events for investors, they are having an impact on the numbers reported in the headlines, and the potential impact of Hurricane Milton is “Disney fell as much as 3% on Monday as the scale began to take shape,” analyst Rick Prentiss wrote on Tuesday.
Hurricanes have been a major headwind for Disney in the past, with Hurricane Ian just two years ago impacting the company’s operating income by about $65 million and forcing the parks to close for two days. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 had an approximately $50 million impact on operating profits, and Hurricane Irma in 2017 took an approximately $100 million hit to Disney’s operating profits, closing the parks for two days.
— Brian Evans
China’s Shenzhen city records worst day since May 1997
On October 8, 2024, the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Composite Index in Shanghai, China will be displayed on electronic screens.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Alphabet falls as Justice Department considers Google breakup
Alphabet shares fell more than 1% after the U.S. Justice Department indicated it was considering breaking up the tech giant in the wake of the monopoly ruling.
The department said in its filing that the changes are “necessary to prevent and constrain monopoly maintenance and may include contractual requirements and prohibitions, non-discriminatory product requirements, data and interoperability requirements, and structural requirements.” said.
— Fred Imbert
European market remains strong after lackluster trading start
A man walks through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange on May 14, 2024 in London, England.
hannah mckayreuter
European markets got off to a lackluster start on Wednesday, but rose slightly as defensive sectors such as utilities, food and beverages, and healthcare remained in positive territory.
Defensive sectors tend to perform better during times of economic uncertainty, as market participants assess risks such as volatility in the Chinese market, conflict in the Middle East, central bank interest rate cuts and the trajectory of inflation.
In the morning, the Stoxx 600 index was trading 1% higher, with all sectors gaining except for banks, which fell 0.3%.
Looking at individual European stocks, the biggest decliners in the pan-European Stoxx index were pharmaceutical and biotech company Bayer, which fell 6.4%, and Dutch financial company ING, which also fell 3%.
The index’s best performer was Continental, the German auto parts maker said in a pre-earnings conference call on Tuesday that sales were down but the profitability of its auto business improved in the third quarter, according to Reuters. The index rose 6.5% after the company said it expects the economy to improve in the next few years.
— Holly Ellyatt
China’s CSI 300 index plunges 7%, ending 10-day winning streak amid mixed trading in Asia
Chinese stocks sold off in choppy trading as Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday.
The mainland’s CSI 300 index fell 7.05%, ending a 10-day winning streak to close at 3,955.98, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.7% in the last hour of volatile trading.
On Tuesday, HSI had its worst day in 16 years, closing 9.41% lower.
Other Asian markets rose on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei stock average gaining 0.87% to $39,277.96 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gaining 0.13% to close at $8,187.4.
— Lim Huijie
The Fed has lowered interest rates to keep the labor market strong, says Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson.
Fed policymakers sought to keep the labor market strong when they decided to lower the federal funds target range by half a percentage point in September, according to comments prepared by Fed Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson.
He spoke at an event Tuesday night at Davidson College in North Carolina.
“(The Federal Open Market Committee) now has increased confidence that inflation is on a sustained path toward the 2% goal,” he said. “To maintain the strength of the labor market, my FOMC colleagues and I recalibrated our policy stance last month, lowering the policy rate by 1/2 percentage point.”
The target range for the federal funds rate is currently 4.75% to 5.00%.
“We will closely monitor future data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risk as we consider further adjustments to the federal funds target range,” Jefferson added.
—Dara Mercado
Wholesale inventory data is expected to be released on Wednesday
Shoppers at Econ World Trading’s restaurant equipment warehouse and distribution facility in Fremont, California, on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Wholesale inventories, which refer to unsold inventory held by wholesalers, are expected to rise 0.2% in August, according to a survey of economists from Dow Jones. This is in line with the previous increase of 0.2%.
Data is expected to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
— Sarah Min
Bank of America says stock market risk increases as yield curve steepens
Bank of America technical analyst Steven Suttmeyer said in a note to clients on Tuesday that stocks are at risk of falling as the U.S. Treasury yield curve steepens between two-year and 10-year notes. He said it would increase.
For example, the S&P 500 is “more susceptible to corrections when the yield curve steepens,” Suttmeyer writes. “The largest correction the SPX has experienced since the yield curve bottomed in June 2023 was the 10.3% decline from late July 2023 to late October 2023. The maximum adjustments in the mean and median during the period are 26.5% and 20.3%, respectively,’ cycles where the curve becomes steeper. ”
Analysts noted that 10 of the past 12 steepening cycles have coincided with U.S. recessions.
The yield on the 10-year government bond was 4.01% and the yield on the 2-year bond was 3.96% in late Tuesday trading. As of May 31st, the yield on 10-year bonds was 4.51% and the yield on 2-year bonds was 4.89%.
— Scott Schnipper
US stock futures open lower
U.S. stock futures opened lower Tuesday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 13 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.05% and 0.06%, respectively.
— Sarah Min
