Jobless claims hit their lowest level since April
Stock futures are pointed mostly higher this morning, on the heels of a slowdown in the central bank's hawkish campaign. Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are firmly in the black, the former boosted by Meta Platforms' (META) quarterly results. Elsewhere, weekly jobless claims fell more than anticipated to 183,000, their lowest level since April.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.4 million call contracts and 828,142 contracts traded on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio dropped to 0.59 and the 21-day moving average fell to 0.80.
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is surging, up 19% ahead of the opening bell. Though the company missed fourth-quarter profit estimates, revenue came in above expectations. The Facebook parent also announced a $40 billion stock buyback, and is attracting a slew of bull notes. Over the last three months, META has added 69.1%.
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Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) is brushing off a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue win, last seen down 1% before the open. What's weighing on the stock instead is the pharm giant's projection of a sales and adjusted earnings decline this year. Year-over-year, though, MRK maintains a
healthy 30.6% lead.
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The shares of
Tesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) are up 4.7% in electronic trading, after Reuters reported it will raise output to nearly
20,000 vehicles per week at the automaker's Shanghai factory over the next two months, as demand ramps up amid lower prices. TSLA has already added 47.3% in 2023.
- Productivity and unit labor costs estimates, and factory and core capital goods orders are due out today.
European Markets Rise on Interest Rate Decision
Asian markets mostly rose on Thursday, with the exception of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which posted a 0.5% drop, as investors eyed the U.S. rate decision. The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe reiterated his support for the central bank easing monetary policy. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.2% for the day, while China’s Shanghai Composite inched 0.02% higher, and the South Korean Kospi added 0.7%.
Over in Europe, both the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) announced interest rate hikes of 50 basis points. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.9% midday, while the French CAC 40 and German DAX sit 0.6% and 1.5% higher, respectively.