All three major indexes are higher before the bell
Stock futures are higher this morning, as jobs data continues to roll in. Nonfarm payrolls rose 223,000 in December, which is higher than the 200,000 anticipated by analysts, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%. Average hourly earnings rose a less-than-expected 0.3% points, which could signal easing of inflation pressures. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are up triple digits, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures sit more modestly in the black. For the week, all three are eyeing a loss.
Continue reading for more on today’s market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.1 million call contracts and 970,390 put contracts traded on Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.86 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.80.
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Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is down 7.2% premarket, after the electric vehicle (EV) giant cut its prices for its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in China. Should these losses hold, TSLA could see another two-year low on the charts.
- Wells Fargo upgraded Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) to “overweight” from “equal weight,” with a price-target hike to $380 from $360. Year-over-year, LULU is down 10%.
- The shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) are plummeting before the bell, down 12.4%, after reports that the company is low on cash and considering bankruptcy. No fewer than four analysts slashed their price targets on the penny stock following the news.
- Today will bring the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) services index, factory orders, and core equipment orders.
Europe Unpacking Inflation Data
Asian markets closed the week mostly higher, led by South Korea’s Kospi, which rose 1.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite tacked on a paltry 0.08%, after regulators in the country signaled plans to relax restrictions on developer borrowing to boost the property sector. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, meanwhile, fell 0.3% following the news. Rounding out the region, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.6%, after its services sector grew for the fourth-straight month.
Inflation in the euro zone fell for a second-straight month in December, bolstering hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) will pull back on its hawkish monetary policy. Additionally, investors in the region are eyeing the stateside nonfarm payroll data. European markets are cautiously higher this afternoon, with Germany’s DAX last seen flat, while France’s CAC 40 and London’s FTSE stand 0.4% and 0.3% higher, respectively.