DOW JONES futures are down 0.22% to 33,528 points, while S&P 500 futures are down slightly 0.01% to 4,152 points. The NASDAQ 100 futures rose 0.24% to 13,441 points.
Wall Street had a mixed session on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 up 1% and 0.5%, respectively. The Dow, for its part, closed slightly lower.
Despite investors’ delight in the CPI data showing a year-to-year rate of 4.9% in April versus 5% expected, the market remains in doubt. Investors learned new inflation numbers today, with data from the Producer Price Index (PPI) for April, up 0.2%. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3% in April. The annual rate was 2.3% and thus also a tenth below the forecast.
The market also knows the usual weekly numbers of The number of initial applications for unemployment benefits rose to 264,000compared to 242,000 in the previous week and above expectations.
In addition to developments in inflationary pressures, which are key to the future development of the Federal Reserve, the market is also focused on negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. In this sense, Treasury Secretary Janet YellenHe believes the idea that US lawmakers could default the country on its debt should be “unthinkable”.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Niigata, Japan, Yellen said she was aware of former President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Republican lawmakers should default the nation. “The United States should never default,” Yellen said, “something that would undermine both the U.S. and global economy should be considered unthinkable by all, in my opinion.”
“There is no good alternative that will save us from catastrophe. I don’t want to elaborate on which bad alternative is better than others, but The only sensible thing to do is to raise the debt ceiling and avoid the dire consequences ahead“, has explained.
On the business side, Walt Disney is the reluctant protagonist, with falls of more than 5% before the bell rings. The entertainment giant reported mixed results for its second fiscal quarter last night. Earnings were in line with estimates, while revenue came in slightly ahead of forecasts, with profit of 93 cents and revenue of $21.82 billion ($21.78 billion expected). The number of Disney+ subscribers is the most negative: Although the company said its streaming segment losses were trimmed, it lost 4 million subscribers to 157.8 million, compared to an expected 163.17 million.
Shares in alternative meat maker Beyond Meat rose 2% after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Beyond Meat posted a loss of 92 cents per share on revenue of $92.2 million. Analysts had expected a loss of $1.01 per share on revenue of $90.8 million.
Robinhood accounts, up 1.7% in the stock market, were also well received. The investment platform generated revenue of $441 million in the first quarter, beating the $425 million forecast by analysts. Monthly active users increased slightly from the fourth quarter to 11.8 million. However, the net loss increased to $511 million, thanks in large part to stock-based compensation.
The company has announced that it will allow trading in shares 24 hours a day, 5 days a week starting next week. Robinhood already offers so-called “extremely extended” trading hours, and its CEO, Vlad Tenev, has previously stated that the company’s goal is to one day offer 24/7 trading.
In commodity markets, West Texas rose 0.84% to $72.92 a barrel, while benchmark European Brent crude rose 0.84% to $76.82 a barrel. both contracts are on track to post their first percentage gain in the past four weeks.
The sharper-than-expected decline in US gasoline inventories has led to price increases reflecting greater demand for transportation fuels. Notably, gasoline inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, more than the 1.2 million barrel reduction analysts had expected, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.
In fixed income, bond yields are falling this Thursday The 10-year note offers a yield of 3.421% on the secondary market.. For the two-year bond, which is most dependent on Fed moves, the yield moves from 4% to 3.916%.
The dollar bounces back from yesterday’s losses today, with the euro/dollar cross set at $1.0920 for each shared currency.