Stock Futures Muted as Investors Digest Inflation Reading

Wall Street just turned in quarterly and monthly wins

Jake Scott

Deputy Editor

Apr 1, 2024 at 9:19 AM

After Wall Street wrapped up one of its best quarters over the last few years and secured monthly wins, futures on Wall Street are muted Monday. Traders are returning to inflation data that was released on Friday, when the market was closed for the Good Friday holiday. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for February showed inflation rose 2.8% -- in line with estimates -- while the Fed's favored core PCE rose a slightly softer 0.3%.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

History says steer clear of this tech stock this month.
How options traders can leverage volatility for profits.
Plus, AT&T's data breach; Tesla's deliveries; and MSFT's bull note.

Futures Chart April 12024

5 Things You Need to Know Today

The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.6 million call contracts and 902,963 put contracts exchanged Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.56, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.71.
AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) stock is 2.4% lower premarket, after the telecommunications company said over the weekend that roughly 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders had their personal data leaked on the dark web. Should these losses hold, T will move back closer to its year-to-date breakeven mark.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is slated to report first-quarter deliveries tomorrow, and Wall Street cut its estimates amid slowing demand for electric vehicles (EV). Before the report, the EV concern hiked the price tag on its Model Y in the U.S. by $1,000. Last seen just 0.3% higher ahead of the bell, TSLA is 29.3% lower year to date.
Jefferies raised its price target on Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to $550 from $465 and maintained its "buy" rating, with the analyst in question expecting upbeat sales for the first quarter. Microsoft stock is 0.2% before the open, and boasts a 50% year-over-year lead.
Plenty of economic data is due out this week, including several speeches from the Federal Reserve.

Chinese Markets Pop After Upbeat Manufacturing Data

Asian markets started the week off mostly higher, save for Japan’s Nikkei, which shed 1.4% and breached the 40,000 level for the first time in over two trading weeks, after business optimism fell among large manufacturers. The big winner was China, though, with the Shanghai Composite adding 1.2% after National Bureau of Statistics data indicated manufacturing activity increased to 50.8 month-over-month for March, while factory activity expanded at its fastest rate in 13 months. South Korea’s Kospi finished marginally higher on the strength of small-cap stocks, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was closed for the holiday.

European bourses were closed for the Easter holiday.

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