Stock futures are pointed firmly lower this morning, as tech stocks remain mired in their recent slump. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are off by triple digits, weighed down by Walmart's (WMT) post-earnings drop, while Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures swim in red ink following four days of losses for the SPX. Elsewhere, jobless claims topped estimates last week, while investors are still musing over yesterday's hawkish Fed minutes ahead of tomorrow's commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole, WY.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- See what's on tap next week, including Nvidia's report.
- Retail stock worth watching ahead of next week's earnings.
- Plus, more on WMT's earnings, and 2 stocks swinging lower.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 2.3 million call contracts and more than 1.5 million put contracts traded on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio came in at 0.66, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.59.
- Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) stock is down 3.1% before the bell after the big box retailer reported a rare profit miss, though the company did hike its full-year earnings and sales guidance. Ahead of today's price action, Walmart stock sports a 13.5% year-to-date lead.
- Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) stock is down 5% premarket, after news that the company is restructuring its debt, exchanging $700 million 2027 notes for new 2030 notes. Coming into today, the equity is down 83% year-to-date.
- Grocery delivery stock Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART), doing business as Instacart, is down 3.3% in electronic trading. Wedbush downgraded the stock to "underperform," citing increased competition. Since the start of the year, CART is up 9.9%.
- Plenty more earnings and economic data on tap to end the week.
New EU Trade Deal
Asian markets were a mixed bag on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.7%, marking a third consecutive loss, as 20-year bond yields hit a 26-year high. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.1% higher, with Chinese tech giant Baidu’s (BIDU) disappointing quarterly revenue weighing on sentiment. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4%, lifted by strength in nuclear power stocks.
Europe is off to a weak start, as investors unpack details from the trade deal between the European Union (EU) the U.S., including tariffs on automakers and pharmaceuticals. So far, London’s FTSE 100 is reeling 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 is off 0.7%, and Germany’s DAX is 0.3% lower.
