Wall Street is brushing off a larger-than-expected first-quarter GDP reading
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are signaling a big boost ahead of a jam-packed news day on Wall Street. Earnings season is in high gear, with both Boeing (BA) and Alphabet (GOOGL) sharing notable reports. Meanwhile, futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are moving higher as well.
Elsewhere, investors are weighing the initial reading of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) that showed a larger-than-anticipated 4.8% contraction. However, stock futures shook off those results after biotech Gilead Sciences (GILD) shared upbeat data on its coronavirus treatment, remdesivir. Later today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will wrap up, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell set to give remarks shortly after.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White breaks down how stocks do during election years.
- This sentiment signal hasn't flashed in 11 years.
- Plus, Starbucks same-store sales take a beating; Spotify set to soar on paid subscriber bump; and auto giant Q1 loss doubles up.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.2 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, and 674,033 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio slipped to 0.56, and the 21-day moving average fell to 0.66.
- Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) stock is inching higher ahead of the bell, up 0.7% after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings that missed expectations. The company's same-store sales dropped by a larger-than-anticipated 10%, although CEO Kevin Johnson expects 90% of U.S. stores to reopen by early June. Six brokerages have already issued price-target hikes, including to $86 at RBC.
- Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) stock is up 8.3% before the bell, after the streaming specialist's first-quarter loss was slimmer than expected, and its subscriber count increased to 130 million. SPOT is poised to reclaim its year-to-date breakeven level today.
- The shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are down 4.1% ahead of the bell, after the automaker's first-quarter loss was almost double Wall Street estimates. Revenue also missed its mark, prompting a price-target cut to $5 from $6.50 at RBC. Ford stock has shed 42% year-to-date.
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Today will bring the the pending home sales index, and the Fed's interest rate decision. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold his press conference at 2 p.m. ET. On the earnings front will be eBay (EBAY), Facebook (FB), General Electric (GE), Microsoft (MSFT), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Tesla (TSLA).
Overseas Markets Rise After Upbeat Quarterly Reports
Asian markets saw modest gains on Wednesday as earnings continued to roll in. The Hong Kong Hang Seng added 0.3%, buoyed by a post-earnings surge in the Hong Kong-listed shares of Standard Charter, while the Shanghai Composite in China finished 0.4% higher. Over in South Korea, the Kospi managed to tack on 0.7%, despite a first-quarter net profit miss from Samsung Electronics. The Nikkei in Japan was closed for holiday.
In Europe, markets are mixed midday, with the bourses weighing a whole new round of earnings. In the U.K., bank name Barclays stock is surging after a well-received earnings report, driving the London FTSE up 0.9%, while the German DAX is up 0.2% as Deutsche Bank brushed off a first-quarter miss. The French CAC 40, meanwhile, is down 0.2%.