Stock Futures Tread Water After Shocking Jobs Data

Weekly jobless claims surged past their estimates

Patrick Martin

Managing Editor

Apr 2, 2020 at 9:16 AM

After a historically rough start to the new quarter, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading slightly above fair value this morning. Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also up before the open, but have given back more substantial gains as investors unpack weekly jobless claims that soared to 6.6 million, blowing past the estimated 3.1 million figure. Oil futures are in rally-mode too, with May-dated crude futures up 10.4% at $22.45 per barrel, at last check.

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

Founder & CEO Bernie Schaeffer paints a picture of Nvidia stock's technical support.
Macy's stock was booted from the S&P 500 yesterday.
Plus, CarMax revs its engine after earnings; analysts weigh in on Disney stock; and Shopify becomes the latest to ditch 2020 guidance.

Stock Futures Chart April 2

5 Things You Need to Know Today

The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 882,468 call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 755,713 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.86, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.83.
CarMax, Inc (NYSE:KMX) stock is up 1.3% ahead of the bell, after the auto retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.30 per share, modestly above analyst estimates. Revenue also topped forecasts. Going into today, KMX was down 40% year-to-date.
Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is up 2.2% before the open, after Atlantic Equities upgraded the Dow name to "overweight" from "neutral." Gains could be capped today though for DIS, after Guggenheim issued a downgrade to "neutral" from "buy" and trimmed its price target to $100 from $160. Disney stock is currently sitting 19% off its March 20, five-year low of $79.07.
The shares of Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) are 4.3% lower in electronic trading, after the e-tailer put its 2020 outlook on hold. CIBC and Raymond James have responded with price-target cuts to $450 and $400, respectively. Shopify stock is up 90% in the last 12 months.
Today will deliver weekly jobless claims, and factory orders data. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and Chewy (CHWY) will all step into the earnings confessional.

Overseas Markets Join the Rally

Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday, with the exception of the Nikkei in Japan, which fell 1.4%, dampened by a dismal day for Fast Retailing. Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite in China added 1.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tacked on 0.8%, and the South Korean Kospi rose 2.3%.

Markets in Europe are also higher midday, with investors eyeing a rebound for the energy sector. The French CAC 40 and the London FTSE 100 are both up 0.7%, while the German DAX is 0.3% higher at the midway mark.

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