All three major benchmarks are sporting modest gains
The stock market is shifting higher before the bell, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) all enjoying modest gains. Investors are busy with economic data today, with all eyes on December's producer price index (PPI), which fell a much larger-than-expected 0.5% in December. This is giving some relief to broader inflation/Fed rate hike worries. Meanwhile, the PPI’s final demand energy index dropped 7.9%, and retail sales fell 1.1%. In response, the 10-year Treasury yield fell back below 3.44%.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Carvana's recent rally out of penny stock territory.
- Software stock could soon break above key levels.
- Plus, UAL jumps after earnings; and 2 analyst calls today.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts and 891,287 put contracts traded on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.59 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.81.
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United Airlines Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) is up 4.3% premarket, after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and raised its profit forecast. Barclays chimed in with a price-target hike to $52 from $45 after the event. UAL has been rallying since the start of the year, already up 35.8% in 2023.
- BofA Global Research downgraded Levi Strauss & Co (NYSE:LEVI) to "neutral" from "buy," with a price-target cut by $2 to $17, citing its earnings setup. LEVI is down 1.6% in electronic trading, and heading into today with a 29.5% year-over-year deficit.
- GoDaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY) is up 3.5% before the bell, after an upgrade from Evercore ISI to "outperform" from "in-line." Should these gains hold, GDDY will break above pressure at the $76 level on the charts.
- Today will bring the Beige Book, industrial production, and capacity utilization data, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) home builders' index, and business inventories.
Asian, European Markets Rise
Asian stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday. Investors are unpacking the surprising policy decision from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to not expand its yield curve control range and held its interest rates at -0.1%, which weakened the yen against the greenback. Japan’s Nikkei managed a 2.5% pop in response, leading the region’s gainers. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tacked on 0.5% and China’s Shanghai Composite was unchanged, as the country’s reopening optimism boosted oil prices. Rounding out the region, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.5%.
All eyes are remain on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and European markets are cautiously higher this afternoon despite an uncertain economic outlook. Inflation in the U.K. fell 10.5% in December, falling slightly below economists’ estimates and marking the second month of declines. At last check, the FTSE 100 in London sports a paltry lead, while France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX are 0.2% and 0.3% higher, respectively.