(Update: Sept 23, 2021 at 08:30 a.m. ET)
U.S. weekly jobless claims total 351,000 topping 320,000 estimate.
(Sept 23) Stock futures extended gains Thursday morning as investors mulled the Federal Reserve's latest signals on monetary policy, which suggested the central bank was warming to a near-term policy adjustment as the economy improved further.
At 07:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 200 points, or 0.59%, S&P 500 e-minis gained 24.75 points, or 0.56%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis jumped 82.25 points, or 0.54%.
Weekly jobless claims dataare due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimate that unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, declined to 320,000 in the week ended Sept. 18, from 332,000 the prior week.
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket:
1) Darden Restaurants — The Olive Garden parent reported earnings of $1.76 per share, higher than the $1.64-per-share forecast. The restaurant company also reported same-store sales that rose 47.5%, topping estimates. Shares rose 3% in premarket trading.
2) BlackBerry — The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an adjusted gross margin of 65%. BlackBerry reported a loss of 6 cents per share, compared with the expected loss of 7 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $175 million, topping estimates of $164 million. Shares rose more than 7% premarket.
3) Salesforce.com — The software company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance to between $26.25 billion and $26.35 billion. This is higher than the company’s previous estimate of revenue between $26.2 billion and $26.3 billion. Analysts expected $26.31 billion. Shares rose 2% in premarket trading.
4) KB Home — Shares of the homebuilder rose in premarket trading despite missing top and bottom-line estimates. KB Home reported quarterly earnings of $1.60 on revenue of $1.47 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of $1.62 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion, according to Refinitiv.
5) Joby Aviation, Inc. — Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the air taxi start-up with an overweight rating, saying in a note to clients on Thursday that investors should take a look at a stock with major potential upside. Shares of Joby Aviation popped more than 5% in extended trading.
6) Biogen — The drugmaker’s stock rose in premarket trading after Needham initiated coverageof the stock with a buy rating, saying in a note to clients on Wednesday that the company’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm will be a big seller for the company long term.
7) Roku Inc — Shares of the streaming company rose 2% in premarket trading after Guggenheim upgraded the stocks to buy from neutral. The Wall Street firm assigned Roku a 12-month price target of $395, implying a 22% one-year return.
8) SoFi Technologies Inc.— Shares of the fintech company rose in premarket trading after gaining 11% during the regular session on Wednesday. Sofi is the 6th most-mentioned stock on Reddit’s WallStreetBets, according to quiver quant.
9) Accenture PLC — Accenture shares rose in extended trading after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company also increased its dividend and buyback authorization.
In rates, Treasuries were off session lows, with the 10Y trading a 1.34%, but remained under pressure in early U.S. session led by intermediate sectors, where 5Y yield touched highest since July 2. Wednesday’s dramatic yield-curve flattening move unleashed by Fed communications continued, compressing 5s30s spread to 93.8bp, lowest since May 2020.UK 10-year yield climbed 3.4bp to session high 0.833% following BOE rate decision (7-2 vote to keep bond-buying target unchanged); bunds outperformed slightly. Peripheral spreads tighten with long-end Italy outperforming.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index reversed an earlier gain and dropped 0.3% as the dollar weakened against all of its Group-of-10 peers apart from the yen amid a more positive sentiment. CAD, NOK and SEK are the strongest performers in G-10, JPY the laggard.
The euro and the pound briefly pared gains after weaker-than-forecast German and British PMIs. The pound rebounded from an eight-month low amid a return of global risk appetite as investors assessed whether the Bank of England will follow the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone later Thursday. The yield differential between 10-year German and Italian debt narrowed to its tightest since April. Norway’s krone advanced after Norges Bank raised its policy rate in line with expectations and signaled a faster pace of tightening over the coming years. The franc whipsawed as the Swiss National Bank kept its policy rate and deposit rate at record lows, as expected, and reiterated its pledge to wage currency market interventions. The yen fell as a unit of China Evergrande said it had reached an agreement with bond holders over an interest payment, reducing demand for haven assets. Turkey’s lira slumped toa record low against the dollar after the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates.
In commodities, crude futures drifted lower after a rangebound Asia session. WTI was 0.25% lower, trading near $72; Brent dips into the red, so far holding above $76. Spot gold adds $3.5, gentle reversing Asia’s losses to trade near $1,771/oz. Base metals are well bid with LME aluminum leading gains. Bitcoin steadied just below $44,000.
Looking at the day ahead, we get the weekly initial jobless claims, the Chicago Fed’s national activity index for August, and the Kansas City fed’s manufacturing activity index for September. From central banks, there’ll be a monetary policy decision from the Bank of England, while the ECB will be publishing their Economic Bulletin and the ECB’s Elderson will also speak. From emerging markets, there’ll also be monetary policy decisions from the Central Bank of Turkey and the South African Reserve Bank. Finally in Germany, there’s an election debate with the lead candidates from the Bundestag parties.
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