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The
S&P 500 and the Nasdaq eked out marginal gains on Thursday as
Treasury yields fell after higher-than-expected jobless claims
data underscored market expectations that interest rates have
peaked.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped further to a
two-month low on Friday and was last at 4.4082%. [US/]
Most megacap stocks edged higher in premarket trading, with
Amazon.com and Nvidia up 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
Pressuring futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, Applied Materials
shares lost 7.2% on news that the semiconductor equipment maker
was under investigation.
Futures for the small-cap Russell 2000 index climbed 1.4%,
outperforming broader markets.
Wall Street's three main indexes were poised to gain about 2%
for the week, also on course for their third straight week of
gains, as multiple data, including the consumer and producer
prices index, pointed towards easing inflationary pressures.
"Currently, bad news is good news as the market focus is on
central banks becoming more accommodative," Mohit Kumar, chief
Europe economist at Jefferies, said in a note.
While money markets have fully priced in the Fed will hold rates
steady at the current 5.25%-5.50% level in its December meeting,
they also see a near 69% chance of at least a 25 basis point
rate cut in May 2024, according to the CME Group's FedWatch
tool.
Investors will now await comments from Fed officials, including
policy voting member Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, due
later in the day for any cues on the monetary policy trajectory.
On the economic data front, markets will monitor the housing
starts data for October, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.
At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 93 points, or 0.27%, S&P
500 e-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100
e-minis were up 6.5 points, or 0.04%.
Among major movers, Gap surged 19.1% before the bell as the
apparel retailer posted better-than-expected third-quarter
results due to improving sales at Old Navy and easing supply
expenses.
ChargePoint Holdings slumped 28.0% as the electric-vehicle
charging network provider lowered estimates for its
third-quarter revenue in its preliminary results and appointed
Rick Wilmer as CEO.
(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru;
Editing by Maju Samuel)
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