Stocks are poised to open higher ahead of a busy day for economic data
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are on the rise this morning, trading comfortably above fair value ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's congressional testimony. Prepared remarks show Yellen will back the Fed's policy-tightening course before the House Financial Services Committee this morning, before addressing the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Plus, investors are awaiting the release of the Fed's Beige Book, along with the regularly scheduled update on domestic crude inventories. Of course, Wall Street will also continue to monitor reports out of Washington D.C., following yesterday's bombshell
Donald Trump Jr. emails and tomorrow's expected release of the Senate's revised healthcare plan.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 648,196 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 449,863 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio moved up to 0.69, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.64.
- Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) yesterday announced a new series of its Xeon chips meant to compete with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), which recently released its Epyc processors. Intel stock has struggled despite the broad gains from chip stocks, while AMD shares have stayed hot.
- Reports out of Fast Company that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is experiencing a "sense of panic" ahead of its iPhone 8 launch don't appear to be affecting the stock. AAPL shares are edging higher in pre-market trading, putting them on pace for a fourth straight day of gains.
- Meanwhile, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is actually going for a sixth straight winning session. The company last night announced former Intuit executive Ned Segal will take over the role of chief financial officer. TWTR stock will now try to tackle the $19 level, which it's struggled to conquer for months.
- Kansas City Fed President Esther George will speak in Denver, while Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) and Omnicom Group (OMC) are reporting earnings.
Overseas Trading
Most Asian markets ended lower today, as traders abroad considered the Donald Trump Jr. emails, and looked ahead to today's testimony from Yellen. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.5% as the yen strengthened against the dollar, while China's Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi each backpedaled 0.2%. Hong Kong outperformed, with the Hang Seng rallying 0.6% on strength in banking shares.
European stocks are cautiously higher at midday, tracking a rebound in Brent crude futures. Traders are reacting to the lowest U.K. unemployment rate in more than 40 years, and -- in addition to Yellen's upcoming remarks -- are waiting to see if the Bank of Canada will push forward with its first rate hike in years. At last look, the French CAC 40 is up 0.9%, and London's FTSE 100 has tacked on 0.7% to keep pace with Germany's DAX.