China reportedly halted purchases of soy out of the U.S.
U.S. stock futures are inching toward a positive open, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) pointed higher, as traders digest the latest gross domestic product (GDP) estimate. The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% pace in the first quarter, exceeding expectations. Bond yields are also on the rise, despite reports that China is halting soy purchases out of the U.S. Futures on the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also moving higher, though all three indexes remain on pace for a steep monthly loss.
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5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 979,704 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 621,859 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.63, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.69.
- Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) is flat in electronic trading, after yesterday plummeting nearly 10% post-earnings. In response, no fewer than five brokerage firms handed out bear notes to the stock, including a price-target cut to $40 from $52 from Credit Suisse. Yesterday the stock suffered its worst day since November, and pushed its year-over-year loss to 48%.
- Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) stock is up 3.4% in pre-market trading, after the company launched its Game of Thrones Slot Casino. As such, Stephens upgraded ZNGA to “overweight” from “equal weight,” and hiked its price target to $8.25 from $6.50. ZNGA has been on fire in 2019, up more than 57% year-to-date.
- Discount store Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) is down 0.7% this morning, after cutting its full-year profit forecast. DLTR has pulled back on the charts of late, already down 14.6% from its mid-April annual peak.
- Weekly jobless claims, advance international trade data, pending home sales, and the weekly crude inventories report are on deck for today. Meanwhile, Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Costco (COST), Dell (DELL), Gap (GPS), Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), Nutanix (NTNX), Okta (OKTA), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), VMware (VMW), and Zscaler (ZS) are all slated to release earnings.
European Stocks Recover After Wednesday's Sell-Off
It was another day in the red for stocks in Asia, though South Korea’s Kospi did manage to outperform with a 0.8% gain, thanks to the uptick in Samsung Electronics shares. In China, trade relations remained in focus following downbeat comments from Chinese officials. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4%, and the Hang Seng was down 0.4% at the close in Hong Kong. Finally, Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.3%.
In Europe, equities are testing positive territory as they try to battle back from yesterday’s sharp sell-off. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.4% thanks to a strong showing from oil stocks. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 and German DAX are both trading 0.3% higher.