Stock futures edged higher on Thursday after the S&P 500 closed following a U.S. inflation report that makes it unlikely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week. On Thursday, investors will get another inflation reading, this time in the form of the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level.
Ford (F) rose 0.3% and General Motors (GM) rose 0.5% ahead of the United Auto Workers’ strike deadline late Thursday. Shawn Fain, the head of the UAW, said late Wednesday that the union and the three major automakers, including Stellantis (STLA), are still “very far apart” on the union’s top priorities for wage increases and that the UAW is on preparing for a strike All three companies are using new tactics after 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
Arm Holdings’ IPO was priced at $51 per share, near the top of its expected range, giving the chip design company a valuation of $54.5 billion on a fully diluted basis. Arm shares will begin trading on Nasdaq on Thursday under the stock symbol “ARM.” Ahead of Arm’s debut, shares of other chipmakers traded higher. Nvidia (NVDA) rose 1.1%, U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) rose 0.9%, Intel (INTC) rose 0.3% and Qualcomm (QCOM) rose 0.4% to.
HP Inc. (HPQ) fell 1.9% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) said it sold 5.5 million shares of the personal computer and printer maker. It was the first sale of HP Inc. shares since Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 12% stake in the company in early 2022.
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Semtech (SMTC), the semiconductor supplier, forecast a fiscal third-quarter loss of 9 cents to 22 cents per share on revenue of $190 million to $210 million. Analysts had estimated adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share on revenue of $247.7 million. However, the stock rose 3.2% in premarket trading after falling earlier in the session.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Carnival (CCL) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral in Redburn. Norwegian stocks rose 2.1% in premarket trading and Carnival rose 2.1%. Redburn analysts maintained their recommendation on Royal Caribbean (RCL) at Neutral. Royal Caribbean rose 1.2%.
After Thursday’s closing bell, earnings reports are expected from software company Adobe (ADBE), homebuilder Lennar (LEN) and online auto auctioneer Copart (CPRT).
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Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]