DJIA futures are trading more than 100 points below fair value following the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) surprise monetary policy decision
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are selling off this morning, last seen more than 100 points below fair value, following the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) unexpected decision not to expand its stimulus program. This comes a day after U.S. stocks got a lift from the
Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) dovish stance. Traders are also digesting this morning's advanced reading on first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), which showed the U.S. economy grew by 0.5% during the three-month period -- the slowest growth rate in two years, and below expectations.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 134.6 points below fair value.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The BoJ decision felt around the world.
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1,129.116 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 619,620 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio edged up to 0.55, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.66.
- Social media stock Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has exploded to a 10.5% pre-market lead -- just shy of the post-earnings swing speculators were pricing in -- after the company last night torched Wall Street's expectations with its first-quarter earnings results. The stock is set to open at all-time highs, while analysts clamor to increase their price targets -- with RBC setting an ambitious target of $165, representing a 51.5% premium to FB's Wednesday settlement of $108.89.
- After agreeing to acquire diagnostics firm Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR) earlier in the year for almost $6 billion, healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has come to terms to buy medical device maker St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ). The cash-and-stock deal is valued at $25 billion, sending STJ soaring 25% in electronic trading. ABT, however, is set to drop close to 8%.
- Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) has announced CEO Darren Huston will resign, effective immediately, following an investigation into his "personal relationship" with an employee that worked under him. PCLN has appointed chairman Jeffery Boyd -- its former CEO -- as the interim CEO, as the stock looks to finish off another strong April. Since the end of March, PCLN has added over 5%, last seen at $1,353.74.
Earnings and Economic Data
Weekly jobless claims were also released this morning, coming in lower than expected. AbbVie (ABBV), Aetna (AET), Amazon.com (AMZN), Baidu (BIDU), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), ConocoPhillips (COP), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Dow Chemical (DOW), Ford Motor (F), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Groupon (GRPN), LinkedIn (LNKD), MasterCard (MA), Pandora Media (P), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN), Raytheon (RTN), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Sony (SNE), Thermo Fisher Dynamics (TMO), Time Warner Cable (TWC), United Parcel Service (UPS), Viacom (VIAB), Waste Management (WM), and Western Digital (WDC) will report earnings. To see what else is coming up on this week's schedule, click here.
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