All three major indexes are pointed higher
All eyes are on this morning's highly-anticipated consumer price index (CPI) data for April, which showed the annual inflation rate rising 4.9%, its lowest level in two years and slightly below the 5% anticipated by analysts. Core CPI rose 5.5% from a year ago, while both the monthly CPI and core CPI both rose 0.4% in April.
Stock futures reversed their earlier losses after the better-than-expected inflation report, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures up triple digits, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures moved higher as well.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.1 million call contracts and 798,238 put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.67 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.76.
- Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) is brushing off its strong first-quarter results. The stock is down 15% premarket, after the company issued a weak second-quarter forecast on slowing demand. No fewer than 14 analysts slashed their price targets in response. Heading into today, ABNB is up 48.6% year-to-date.
- Halozyme Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HALO) stock is up 3% before the bell, after Piper Sandler upgraded the drugmaker to "overweight" from "neutral," following the company's reaffirmed full-year guidance. Looking to bounce off of yesterday's two-year lows, HALO is down 46.3% since the start of 2023.
- GoodRX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GDRX) is off 9.4% in electronic trading, after lowering its full-year and current-quarter revenue guidance. Year-over-year, the equity is down 56.4%.
- Today will also bring the Federal budget balance.
Rate Hike Cycle Nearing End in Europe?
Stocks in Asia closed lower for Wednesday, as investors digested earnings and economic data from the region. Despite unemployment falling to 2.6% in South Korea, the Kospi logged a 0.5% loss. Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.4% lower, brushing off Mitsubishi’s record earnings report. China’s Shanghai Composite sank 1.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave back 0.5%.
Bourses in Europe are sporting modest losses at last check. Greek Central Bank (GCB) Chief Yannis Stournaras noted that European Central Bank (ECB) will stop hiking interest rates, barring any major economic changes. At last glance, London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 is down 0.2%, and Germany’s DAX has shed 0.3%.