Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street
May 07 2024 - 9:09AM
IH Market News
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to roughly
flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of
direction after moving sharply higher over the past several
sessions.
Traders may take a breather on the heels of the advance seen
during Monday’s session, which extended the rally seen to close out
the previous week.
The surge has lifted the major averages to their best levels in
almost a month amid renewed optimism about the outlook for interest
rates.
Relatively dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell combined with weaker-than-expected job growth in April have
largely eliminated short-lived concerns the Fed might actually
consider raising rates.
Investors have instead grown increasingly confident about a rate
cut in the coming months, with the chances rates will be lower by
September now at 83.5 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch
Tool.
Among individual stocks, shares of Disney (DIS) are seeing
significant pre-market weakness even though the entertainment giant
reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings.
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on
Monday, extending the rally seen to close out the previous week.
With the continued advance, the major averages reached their best
closing levels in almost a month.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session
going into the close of trading, The Nasdaq surged 192.92 points or
1.2 percent to 16,349.25, the S&P 500 jumped 52.95 points or
1.0 percent to 5,180.74 and the Dow climbed 176.59 points or 0.5
percent to 38,862.27.
Stocks continued to benefit from the upward momentum seen over
the two previous sessions, which partly reflected renewed optimism
about the outlook for interest rates.
However, the upward move may have been exaggerated by light
volume, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kepts some traders on
the sidelines.
The economic calendar remains relatively quiet throughout the
week, although a preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in May
might attract some attention along with remarks by several Fed
officials.
Among individual stocks, shares of Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO)
moved sharply higher on the day after Morgan Stanley upgraded its
rating on the eye care company’s stock to Overweight from Equal
Weight.
Media and entertainment giant Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)
also surged after a report from the New York Times said the company
decided to formally open negotiations with a bidding group led by
Sony Pictures Entertainment and the private equity giant
Apollo.
Meanwhile, shares of Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) plummeted after
the discount carrier reported a slightly wider than expected first
quarter loss and provided disappointing second quarter revenue
guidance.
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside
over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index up by 2.2 percent to its best closing level in
almost a month.
Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as
reflected by the 2.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs
Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price
of the precious metal.
Computer hardware stocks also saw significant strength on the
day, resulting in a 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer
Hardware Index.
Software, brokerage and housing stocks also showed notable moves
to the upside, moving higher along with most of the other major
sectors.
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