The Dow is marginally in the red this morning
Stock are sluggish this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) down 20 points at last check, while the S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite Index (NDX) modestly higher. Chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) upbeat quarterly results are giving the tech sector a boost, while investors are also poring over another round of weekly jobless claims. This week’s numbers came in at 268,000, as expected.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- How options traders lined up to Kohl’s stock ahead of its earnings.
- Alibaba stock was struggling even before its ugly earnings this morning.
- Plus, SONO lifts sales forecast; and 2 retailers entering the earnings confessional.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 925,027 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.45, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.47.
- Speaker company Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO) reported losses of 7 cents per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, which came in line with analysts’ estimates, though its revenue missed expectations. It did issue an upbeat fiscal 2022 sales forecast, however, which is putting the stock at a 4.4% lead so far today. Year-to-date, SONO is up over 43%.
- Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF) is down 2.3%, despite the pet store company sharing top- and bottom-line beats for its third quarter, along with hiking its full-year outlook. Petco stock has added over 28% in the last three months.
- The shares of Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) are up 10.5% this morning, following the retailer’s better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue report, as well as a raised full-year forecast from the company. Macy’s stock is up over 175% in 2021.
- Today, investors will be watching the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing and leading economic indicators.
Tech Weighs on Asian Markets
Markets in Asia slipped today, led by the Hong Kong Hang Seng, which posted a 1.3% drop, as tech stocks weighed on the index. One of these names, Baidu (BIDU), moved lower despite posting strong third-quarter revenue, after the company warned that China's economic slowdown has affected ad spending, which generates most of its profit. China's Shanghai Composite and the South Korean Kospi both fell 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.3%.
European markets are muted at midday, as concerns regarding yesterday's inflation readings remain, despite several strong earnings reports. London's FTSE 100 is down 0.2% at last check, while the French CAC 40 sits at a 0.1% rise, and the German DAX lays flat.