Stock Futures Soar on Fed Tailwinds

Traders will be watching Slack's first day on the public market, as well

Josh Selway

Jun 20, 2019 at 9:12 AM

U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) set for a more than 250-point jump out of the gate. The bullish backdrop comes after the Fed's dovish update yesterday, putting a potential interest-rate cut on the table for 2019. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims were lower than expected this morning, coming in at 216,000 compared to estimates of 220,000. Today's upside move could have the Dow and S&P 500 Index (SPX) within striking distance of their record highs.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

What to expect after the S&P's unusually fast rally in recent sessions.
The pot stock that popped on a U.S. expansion deal.
Inside yesterday's bearish options trading on Uber.
Plus, Slack goes public; Tesla gets dinged; and Alibaba sets records.

US stock futures june 20

5 Things You Need to Know Today

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 897,759 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 547,291 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.61, while the 21-day moving average was 0.66.
Online collaboration specialist Slack Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WORK) will go public today through a direct listing, with a reference price of $26 per share, putting its market cap at roughly $16 billion. The direct listing, which doesn't let the company raise additional funds in its debut, is also the route music streaming platform Spotify Technology (SPOT) chose when it went public last year.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is trading down 1.7% in pre-market action, after Goldman Sachs cut its price target to $158 from $200, and kept its "sell" rating in place. The brokerage firm is concerned about the long-term demand prospects for the company's vehicles. TSLA shares are again running into their 50-day moving average, which has served as a ceiling during their 2019 sell-off.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is rising before the open, as well, after the company said its mid-year shopping festival broke records in China, citing strong demand from consumers in "less-developed cities." BABA shares are set to test the $170 area that's oscillated between resistance and support since late 2018.
There will be the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey and the Fed balance sheet. On the earnings front, Darden Restaurants (DRI), Kroger (KR), and Red Hat (RHT) will report.

Overseas Markets Get Boost from Central Banks

A dovish U.S. Fed boosted Asian markets today. China's Shanghai Composite marked its highest close since late April, up 2.4%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng tacked on its fourth straight win, up 1.2%. Elsewhere, the Nikkei in Japan closed 0.6% higher after the Bank of Japan left interest rates untouched, and the South Korean Kospi finished with a 0.3% gain.

European stocks are higher after the Bank of England (BOE) announced it would keep interest rates unchanged. The BOE also lowered its guidance for Britain's economic growth in the second quarter to zero, with the FTSE 100 in London trading 0.7% higher. The French CAC 40 is up 0.7%, as well, while the German DAX has tacked on 0.8%.

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