Futures on the DJIA are just north of fair value this morning, after two days of big gains
After
two days of big gains, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is signaling another positive start, with Dow futures sitting north of fair value.
Bank stocks will continue to be in focus today, with financial firms Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) both lower in electronic trading following their respective earnings results. Elsewhere, May-dated crude futures are up 0.4% at $41.92 per barrel, even after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that should global oil producers agree to a production freeze at this Sunday's meeting in Doha, Qatar, "the impact on physical oil supplies will be limited."
On the economic front, weekly jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 253,000 last week, while the consumer price index (CPI) and core CPI both edged 0.1% higher in March. And speaking of inflation, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart
backpedaled on his policy stance in light of weak data, stating, "Based on what I've seen recently, I am not going to be advocating [a rate hike] in April."
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 24 points above fair value.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- An unexpected move from Singapore's central bank helped lift Asian markets, while "Brexit" concerns weighed on the Bank of England (BoE).
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 961,493 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 582,561 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio dropped to 0.61, while the 21-day moving average edged down to 0.69.
- Bank of America Corp's highly anticipated earnings report revealed the firm earned 21 cents per share in the first quarter -- edging just past the consensus estimate, but representing an 18% year-over-year drop. Meanwhile, the bank's revenue of $20.9 billion came in below Wall Street's expectations.
- A probe into Sunedison Inc's (NYSE:SUNE) books concluded the solar firm delivered an "overly optimistic" view of its financial health and used bad accounting methods. However, no fraud was detected, sending the beaten-down stock 68% higher in pre-market trading.
- Following in the footsteps of Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), oil concern Energy XXI Ltd (NASDAQ:EXXI) said it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Shares of EXXI are bracing for a 75% drop out of the gate.
Earnings and Economic Data
The Street will hear more from Lockhart and Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell. A busier day for earnings reports includes Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), BlackRock (BLK), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS), and Progressive (PGR). To see what is coming up next on this week's schedule, click here.
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