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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 20, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures were marginally higher Thursday as investors look ahead to commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expected later this week.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 27 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% along with Nasdaq-100 futures.
Software company Snowflake dropped 10% even after it beat quarterly expectations and slightly raised its full-year product revenue guidance. Urban Outfitters also slid more than 10% after the retailer's same-store sales in the second quarter disappointed analysts.
Traders are turning their attention to Powell's expected speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday, hoping for further insight into rate policy. Traders are currently pricing in a 100% chance of a rate cut next month, per the CME Group's FedWatch tool, but they are divided when it comes to how large the reduction will be.
"The volatility from the past month has settled as macro fears subside, expectations were reset, and investors used the weakness as an opportunity to add to risk exposure. The next catalyst for markets is Fed data … this likely results in a wait-and-see approach until Friday," said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session, as newly released minutes from the Fed's July gathering indicated "the vast majority" of participants at the central bank's meeting said it would "likely" be appropriate to lower the key interest rate at September meeting — if data continues to come in as expected.
Investors seemed to cheer the results, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posting their ninth winning session of the last 10. The S&P 500's advance brought it less than 1% away from its closing record. The 30-stock Dow posted its sixth positive day out of the last seven.
European markets open slightly higher
European stocks opened marginally higher Thursday as investors look for indications from the Federal Reserve on the future path of interest rates.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.10% in early trade, with the majority of sectors and major bourses in the green. Travel and leisure stocks were up 0.44% while mining stocks fell 0.55%.
It comes after the pan-European benchmark ended the day higher on Wednesday, with the majority of sectors in positive territory as markets rebounded after snapping a winning streak on Tuesday.
Stoxx 600.
— Karen Gilchrist
Urban Outfitters sales remain very problematic
Urban Outfitters easily beat earnings expectations ($1.24 vs. $1.00 estimate), while revenues were about in line with what analysts projected. But shares are falling after the apparel retailer's same-store sales figures disappointed.
The company's namesake brand continues to be a major problem. Sales of stores open for at least a year for the Urban Outfitters brand fell 9.3% in the latest quarter — more than the 8.3% decline Wall Street expected. That is the ninth consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines for the brand.
The 9% decline during the most recent quarter also compounds the significant weakness from the past 2 years. In the year-ago quarter, the Urban Outfitters brand saw a 14% drop in same-store sales, and that was on top of a 9% drop from the quarter 2 years ago.
— Robert Hum
Four of 11 sectors in S&P 500 scored 52-week highs Wednesday
The health care, utilities, real estate and consumer staples sectors inside the S&P 500 all touched 52-week highs on Wednesday, according to FactSet data. None closed more than 0.74% below the 52-week high (utilities), and real estate stocks closed only 0.08% below the 52-week high.
Energy stocks in the S&P 500 have gone the longest time since reaching a 52-week, a mark last touched on April 5, followed by materials stocks on April 9.
The largest percentage loss since a 52-week high also came in energy stocks, down 9.7%, followed by communication services at 5.56% (since July 5) and information technology, down 5% (July 10).
Although materials stocks last traded at a 52-week high in April, the group is only down 1.4% since then.
— Scott Schnipper
Snowflake, Zoom, Urban Outfitters among stocks moving after market close
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.
- Snowflake — Shares tumbled nearly 7% even after the software company beat quarterly expectations and slightly raised its full-year product revenue guidance. Snowflake reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share, higher than the 16 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Its revenue was $869 million for the period, higher than the $851 million expected by analysts.
- Urban Outfitters — The retailer fell roughly 4% after same-store sales disappointed analysts. Stores for the Urban Outfitters brand that were open for at least a year fell 9.3% in the second quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of an 8.3% decline. The company's earnings and revenue beat expectations, meanwhile.
- Zoom Video — Zoom edged 2.7% higher after reporting a strong second quarter and topping guidance estimates. The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.39 per share on $1.16 billion, higher than earnings of $1.21 per share. Zoom also announced that its chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg is leaving the company.
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— Pia Singh
English (US)