Futures on all three major benchmarks are lower premarket
Futures on Wall Street are lower this morning, following an exceptionally strong period for stocks. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) just finished their fifth-straight week higher, and managed a win on Friday even after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments contrasted investors' beliefs surrounding rate-cut expectations. Bitcoin (BTC) and gold futures are surging in response, with the former jumping to a 19-month peak and the latter trading at record highs.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Unpacking Wall Street's best month of the year.
- Retail stocks to watch this holiday season.
- Plus, crypto stocks rise; Spotfiy's layoffs; and LULU's bear note.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 1.7 million call contracts and 882,997 put contracts traded Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fall to 0.51 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.69.
- Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) is up 9.8% premarket, rising along other crypto-related equities as the aforementioned Bitcoin cleared the $40,000 mark for the first time this year. Year to date, COIN is up 278%.
- Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) is 5.7% higher before the bell, following CNBC's report that the music streaming concern is laying off 17% of its workforce -- about 1,500 jobs -- in an effort to cut costs. This will be its third round of layoffs in 2023. Meanwhile, SPOT is up nearly 130% in 2023.
- Wells Fargo downgraded athleiesure concern Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) to "equal weight" from "overweight," citing positive catalysts that have come and gone, as well as muted 2024 growth. Over the last nine months, LULU has tacked on 47.3%.
- The first week of December features a deluge of economic data and earnings.
Asian Inflation Data Weighs on Region
Asian markets kicked off the week mostly in the red, ahead of this week’s host of regional inflation and economic data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng paced the laggards with a 1.1% loss, while China’s Shanghai Composite shed 0.3%. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.6%, and South Korea’s Kospi was the only gainer with a 0.4% pop.
European stocks are mostly lower as well, as investors assess the potential for interest rate cuts next year and digest yesterday’s record high for gold prices. London’s FTSE 100 was last seen down 0.4%, while France’s CAC 40 falls 0.3%, and the German DAX sports a modest a 0.1% lead.