UBS GWM Head of Americas Equities David Lefkowitz comments on the markets.
US stock futures ticked lower after Wednesday’s huge stock rally.
Major futures indexes are pointing to a 0.4% drop when Wall Street’s opening bell rings.
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US stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by half a point for the first time in two decades and Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the economy can avoid a recession.
The Fed raised interest rates to a range of 0.75% to 1%, the highest level since the coronavirus pandemic two years ago.
FED’S POWELL ELIMINATES RECESSION CHILDREN WITH REJECTION OF A MAJOR RATE HIKE
Powell’s comments seemed aimed at allaying fears that the Fed, which has been accused of being too slow to react to last year’s rise in inflation, may be heading for an unusually large three-quarters-of-a-point rate hike at its June meeting.
Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Reports on jobs and productivity are on the economic list on Thursday.
The Department of Labor has released the tally of new jobless claims for the past week. Expectations are at 182k, up slightly from 180k last week and holding at pre-pandemic levels. Ongoing claims, which take the total number of unemployed on benefits, are expected to fall to 1.4 million, the lowest level in more than 52 years.
US COMPANIES ADDED 247,000 JOBS IN APRIL, FULLY MISSING EXPECTATIONS: ADP
The monthly jobs report due Friday is expected to say that the US economy added 394,000 new nonfarm payrolls in April.
traders on the NYSE. (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP) (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP/AP Images)
At the same time, we get the preliminary report of 1Q productivity and labor cost. Economists polled by Refinitiv expect labor productivity to have fallen by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.4% in the most recent quarter, reversing a 6.6% increase in the fourth quarter. Unit labor costs are expected to rise 9.9% annually in the first quarter. That’s well above the pace of 0.9% in the fourth quarter.
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Oil prices were jittery on Thursday morning after a European Union proposal for new sanctions on Russia included an embargo on crude oil six months from now.
US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded around $107 a barrel.
Brent futures traded around $110 a barrel.
Bitcoin traded around $39,000.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.4% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%. Markets in Japan were closed for public holidays.
| ticker | security | Last | To change | To change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 34061.06 | +932.27 | +2.81% |
| SP500 | S&P500 | 4300.17 | +124.69 | +2.99% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 12964.855836 | +401.10 | +3.19% |
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 3% on Wednesday, marking its best day in two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.8% to 34,061.06. The Nasdaq Composite was up 3.2% to 12,964.86.
Ebay shares fell 6% in premarket trading after the company lowered its financial guidance for the year as it posted a quarterly loss.
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Thursday’s earnings reports include Cardinal Health, ConocoPhillips, Kellogg, Wayfair and Royal Caribbean Cruises in the morning.
News Corporation, Zillow Group and iHeartMedia will be available after the bell.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.