Stock Futures Slide to Begin New Month, Short Week

Despite August wins, Wall Street is deep in the red to start September

Laura McCandless

Deputy Editor

Sep 3, 2024 at 9:01 AM

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are down triple digits to start the holiday-shortened week, while S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures sit firmly in the red as well. All three major benchmarks are fresh off monthly wins for August, though September has been historically rocky for the stock market. Since 1897, the Dow finished the month higher just 41.7% of the time, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

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

Checking in with 2 tech stocks after last week's earnings.
Quick market refresh as we head into the shortened week.
Plus, two stocks moving on analyst notes; and LUV rises on activist investor news.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.5 million call contracts and 902,822 put contracts exchanged on Friday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.60 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.65.
Shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) are down 3.7% premarket, after a downgrade from Wells Fargo to "underweight" from "equal weight." Should these losses hold, BA will dip below recent support at the $170 level. Year to date, the airplane manufacturer is down 33.3%.
Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U) stock is up 6.3% before the bell, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the video game maker to "overweight" from "equal weight." Looking to distance itself further from its early-August record lows, the stock is down 60% in 2024.
Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is up 2.4% in electronic trading, after Reuters reported activist investor Elliott Investment Management upped its stake, now holding enough to call a special shareholder meeting. Heading into today, the airline stock is up just 0.1% since the start of the year.
Stay up-to-date with the latest earnings and economic schedule.

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Stocks Lower Overseas as Well

Major indexes in Asia suffered losses across the board, as investors unpacked South Korea’s inflation data. The reading showed the region’s consumer price index (CPI) slide to 2% from 2.6%, its lowest level in three years. For the day, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6%, China’s Shanghai Composite shed 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei settled just below breakeven with a 0.04% drop.

Markets are moving lower in Europe, as traders eye economic data out of the region and last week's stateside Fed news. Retail sales in Britain grew 1% last month, while food sales grew 2.9% in the three months before August. At last glance, London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.5%, Germany’s DAX is 0.3% lower, and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.2%.

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