The major benchmarks are higher ahead of the open
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 (SPX) are on the rise this morning, after both benchmarks snapped their record-setting win streaks last session, while Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures are in the black as well. The market appears to be brushing off a dismal gross domestic product (GDP) reading, which came in at 2% for the third quarter amid supply chain issues, compared to the expected 2.8%. On a brighter note, initial jobless claims for last week came in at 281,000, which is just below estimates.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Shorts piled on Teladoc stock before earnings.
- Homebuilding name has a strong growth rate.
- Plus, F and SNBR jump on profit beats; and AUPH receives a downgrade.

5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.9 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 990,863 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.51, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.48.
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Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is surging ahead of the open, up 7.9%, after announcing third-quarter earnings of 51 cents per share, which is higher than analysts' expected 27 cents, as well as better-than-expected revenue. Plus, the auto-maker raised its full-year forecast despite the chip shortage. No fewer than four analysts chimed in with price-target hikes. Year-over-year the equity remains up 95%.
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Sleep Number Corp (NASDAQ:SNBR) reported much better-than-expected third-quarter results as well, with profits of $2.22 per share easily beating the estimated $1.44 per share. Piper Sandler chimed in with a price-target hike to $140 from $135, however, Wedbush slashed its price objective to $105 from $130. In electronic trading, SNBR is up 6.8%.
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Oppenheimer downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) to "perform" from "outperform," after the stock's recent rally on news that Bristol Myers Squibb Co is interested in acquiring the company. AUPH is down 2% pre-market, and posting a 116.3% year-to-date gain.
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Today will bring pending home sales.

International Markets Eye Monetary Policy
Asian markets fell on Thursday, while investors eyed the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) decision to keep its monetary policy steady. The BoJ’s board members, meanwhile, slashed their real gross domestic product (GDP) growth and consumer inflation outlooks for fiscal 2021. Also weighing on Japan’s Nikkei, which dropped nearly 1%, is a 0.6% year-over-year drop in the country’s retail sales. Elsewhere in the region, the Hong Kong Hang Seng slipped 0.3%, the Shanghai Composite in China dropped 1.2%, and the South Korean Kospi fell 0.5%.
European markets also felt some of the weight of a central bank update, after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided it would keep its interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, even as inflationary pressures continue on. Investors in the region also sifted through more earnings, including reports from Shell and Volkswagen, which both dropped following their respective earnings events. At last check, the French CAC 40 is up 0.5%, the German DAX is 0.2% lower, and the London FTSE 100 is off 0.3%, falling following a budget statement from U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak.