The Dow is 150 points higher before the open
Stock futures are eyeing a pop this morning, following an unusually strong week on Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures were last seen sporting a 150-point lead, as investors brace for this week's deluge of corporate earnings reports, which will accompany the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting. Meanwhile, futures on both the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are eyeing solid gains of their own, as Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT) prepare to report quarterly results.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Don't overlook these 5 cannabis stocks.
- Here's how to trade vertical debt spreads.
- Plus, unpacking this mining stock's earnings miss; JD.com stock scores analyst praise; and why Squarespace stock is selling off today.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.42 million call contracts and 1.03 million put contracts traded on Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.73, and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.67.
- Shares of Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) were last seen 3.1% lower in the premarket, after the mining company reported second-quarter earnings that were below analysts' estimates. Digging deeper, a dip in gold prices saw Newmont's profit drop 41% year-over-year, and NEM lost 17.1% in that same span of time.
- Chinese e-commerce name JD.Com Inc (NASDAQ:JD) is up 1.9% before the open, as it continues to try to overcome a 9.9% year-to-date deficit. The equity's bump today comes after Morgan Stanley called it a "catalyst driven idea," with the firm citing the potential for better-than-expected revenue growth guidance after its upcoming August earnings report.
- Meanwhile, Squarespace Inc (NYSE:SQSP) was last seen down 9% ahead of the open, and is adding to its 64.8% year-over-year losses, after issuing a weaker-than-expected full-year revenue forecast. The news comes despite its second-quarter results beating expectations, but revenue is still seeing an impact from currency-related pressures.
- Today's economic data releases include the Chicago Fed national activity index.
Reports Reveal Plans to Sort U.S.-Listed Companies in China
Asian markets were mostly lower today, with the exception of the South Korean Kospi, which added 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched 0.2% lower, weighed down by tech stocks, while Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported that China plans to sort U.S.-listed companies into a three-group system depending on the sensitivity of their data.
Meanwhile, European markets are higher midday, as investors look ahead to a busy week of corporate earnings. It’s also worth noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a global health emergency over this past weekend. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.3% at last glance, while the French CAC 40 rises 0.6%, and the German DAX tacks on 0.4%.