Russia said it might be pulling back some troops from the Ukraine border
Stock futures are staging a sharp rebound this morning, following news that Russia might be pulling back some of its troops from the Ukrainian border, signaling some of the tensions between the two countries may be cooling. In response futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are headed towards a 344-point pop, while S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are following suit with sizeable jumps of their own.
Meanwhile, oil prices are sinking on the news, while the 10-year Treasury yield jumped above 2.04%. Investors are also poring over more inflation data, this time by way of the producer price index (PPI), which jumped 1% in January -- well above the Dow Jones estimated 0.5%.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Analyst issues warning ahead of Shopify earnings.
- Bulls blast Paypal stock, despite its 61% year-to-date deficit.
- Plus, QSR pops after earnings; 2 beverage brands nearing a merger; and what's sinking INTU this morning.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.19 million call contracts traded on Monday, and 786,297 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.66, and the 21-day moving average rose to 0.55.
- Burger King parent Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) is up 2.2% before the open, following the company's top- and bottom-line beat for the fourth quarter. The company said its Burger King sales helped make up for misses from other brands such as Popeyes.
- According to a report from Bloomberg, talks between Monster Beverage Corp (NASDQ:MNST) and Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) to form a merger are progressing. The former is up 2.9% in premarket trading, while the latter is 0.7% higher.
- Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) lowered its current-quarter forecast, citing a slow start to the tax season, though he company did maintain its full-year outlook. INTU is down 0.8% before the bell.
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Today investors will go through the producer price index (PPI) and the Empire State manufacturing index.
European Markets Eye GDP Data
Markets in Asia were mostly lower today, as the world keeps a close eye on tensions between Russia and Ukraine. China's Shanghai Composite was the only winner, managing a 0.5% gain. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8%, after data showed Japan's economy expanding 5.4% year-over-year in the final quarter of 2021, though the annualized figure was lower then the 5.8% estimate. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.8% as well, while the South Korean Kospi led the laggards with a 1% loss.
European markets, meanwhile, are higher midday, after Russia began returning some troops to bases from the Ukrainian border. Investors are eyeing several corporate earnings reports, as well as data showing the euro zone's GDP growing 0.3% in the fourth quarter to 4.6% year-over-year – less than expected during the Covid-19 omicron variant. London's FTSE 100 is up 0.8% at last glance, while the French CAC 40 and German DAX rise 1.4% and 1.8%, respectively.