The Fed yesterday issued a third-straight interest rate hike
Stock futures are moving higher this morning, after yesterday's selloff that followed the Federal Reserve's third-straight interest rate hike. In addition, policymakers reiterated their hawkish stance on combating inflation, saying interest rates could be raised as high as 4.6% in 2023. In other news, initial unemployment claims for last week increased by 5,000 to 213,000, rising slightly from an almost four-month low, though the figure still came in below estimates of 214,000.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Upbeat outlook sends cosmetic stock higher.
- Bull signal could send this bank stock to multi-month highs.
- Plus, Accenture issues weak revenue forecast; Novavax downgraded on lower vaccine demand; and unpacking Salesforce's operating overhaul.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.14 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 812,249 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.71, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.66.
- Shares of Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) are marginally lower ahead of the opening bell, despite beating quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. Instead, weighing on the consulting firm today is a weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter, which Accenture chalked up to IT spending cuts and the negative impact from a stronger dollar. Heading into the session, ACN was already down 36% in 2022.
- J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX), sending the shares 5.3% lower premarket and adding to an 88.8% year-over-year deficit. The firm lowered its rating to "underweight," from "neutral," and said Novavax's recent guidance cut my not be low enough, as vaccine demand continue to dwindle.
- Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) just unveiled plans to operate more efficiently and increase profit margins. The business software giant is now aiming for a 25% adjusted operated margin for the 2026 fiscal year, as more cloud concerns emphasize cost-savings plans in the midst of rising interest rates. CRM was last seen up 2.5% ahead of the open, but is coming into today with a 41.9% year-to-date deficit.
- The U.S. current-account deficit (% of GDP) and leading economic indicators are slated for release later today.
Stateside Interest Rate Hike Dents Foreign Markets
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone during yesterday’s meeting was heard globally, sending Asian markets lower on Thursday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng saw the deepest losses, dropping 1.6%, while the Shanghai Composite in China shed 0.3%, and the South Korean Kospi lost 0.6%. Meanwhile, Japan’s yen rose to 140-levels against the U.S. dollar after the government conducted a direct intervention, while the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its interest rates steady. In response, the Nikkei in Japan dropped 0.6%.
European markets also fell, as traders looked toward the U.S. central bank, as well as rate hikes from the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England (BoE), the latter of which increased rates by 50 basis points, marking its seventh-straight climb. As a result, the London FTSE 100 was last seen down 0.3%, the French CAC 40 is 0.9% lower, and the German DAX has shed 0.5%.