U.S. stock index futures struggled for direction on Wednesday, cooling off after a day-earlier rally, as worries lingered about the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus and its impact on global economic recovery.
At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 42 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 1.25 points, or 0.03% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 7.75 points, or 0.05%.
Wall Street's main indexes ended with hefty gains on Tuesday, but few market-moving catalysts and thin volumes in the last two weeks of trading this year are seen aiding higher volatility. The S&P 500 index is up roughly 24% in 2021.
Investors looked for updates on the Omicron variant after Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, the Netherlands and South Korea re-imposed lockdowns or other curbs.
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
CarMax (KMX) – The auto retailer’s stock jumped 5.1% in premarket trading after CarMax beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its latest quarter, as well as posting comparable dealer sales that were above analyst forecasts.
Tesla Motors (TSLA) – Tesla shares rose 3.4% in the premarket after CEO Elon Musk said he has now sold enough stock to reach his goal of selling 10% of his shares. Over that time, however, Musk has actually increased his holdings in Tesla due to the exercising of options.
BlackBerry (BB) – BlackBerry reported a breakeven quarter, on an adjusted basis, compared with analyst forecasts of a 7 cents per share loss. The communications software maker also saw revenue beat estimates, helped by strong demand for cybersecurity products, but current quarter forecasts for those products is shy of some analyst estimates.
Caterpillar (CAT) – Caterpillar rose 1.6% in the premarket after Bernstein upgraded the heavy equipment maker’s stock to “outperform” from “market perform.” Bernstein said concerns about a machinery upgrade cycle ending in 2022 are overdone.
CalAmp (CAMP) – CalAmp lost an adjusted 8 cents per share for its latest quarter, surprising analysts who had expected a profit of 8 cents per share. The maker of wireless data communications products and software also saw revenue fall short of forecasts, with component shortages a key factor impacting its results. CalAmp plunged 15.7% in premarket action.
Alibaba (BABA) – Alibaba shares fell 4% in the premarket after Atlantic Equities downgraded the Chinese e-commerce company’s stock to “neutral” from “overweight.” The firm cites concerns that Alibaba shopping platforms Tmall and Taobao won’t see improvement in their performances in the near term.
Darden Restaurants (DRI) – Darden Restaurants was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Stifel Financial, which pointed to the Olive Garden parent’s upbeat quarterly results last week. The stock had fallen after that report, but Stifel believes that was driven by the announcement that CEO Gene Lee will retire in May. Darden added 1.1% in premarket trading.
Williams-Sonoma (WSM) – Williams-Sonoma was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Loop Capital, which thinks the household products retailer has a “premier” brand and that the tailwinds provided by the pandemic will continue well into 2022.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) – The cryptocurrency infrastructure company was named a “top pick” for 2022 at Oppenheimer, which pointed to an accelerating move into the mainstream for digital assets.