Stock futures were little changed Wednesday ahead of key inflation

Stock futures were little changed Wednesday ahead of key inflation reports: Live Updates

6 hours ago

Business morale in Japan is subdued as the Portal Tankan poll remained flat in October

Confidence among major Japanese manufacturers was subdued in October, according to the Portal Tankan survey, which measures business sentiment among major Japanese companies.

The Portal poll, which tracks the Bank of Japan’s closely watched quarterly Tankan survey, showed that manufacturing sentiment stagnated at +4 index points in October, although it was expected to rise slightly in the next three months.

Sentiment in the services sector improved slightly as positive domestic demand helped partially offset the impact of global headwinds on the economy.

The services sector index rose to +24 in October, slightly improving from +23 in the previous month.

—Shreyashi Sanyal

5 hours ago

Stocks rise in Seoul as Samsung leads earnings

South Korean stocks rose about 2%, hitting a two-week high thanks to a boost from chip giant Samsung Electronics.

According to the forecast published by the company, Samsung expects a 78% decline in operating profit for the quarter ending September. The forecast for operating profit was slightly above analysts’ expectations. The company’s shares rose 3.77%.

Its counterpart SK Hynix rose about 3%.

—Shreyashi Sanyal

8 hours ago

Birkenstock expects to price the IPO at $46 per share

German shoe maker Birkenstock is expected to price its initial public offering at $46 per share on Tuesday, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The price would put Birkenstock in the middle of its range of $44 to $49 per share and give it a preliminary valuation of about $8.64 billion.

The company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BIRK.”

—Leslie Picker, Gabrielle Fonrouge

8 hours ago

Smallcaps posted their fifth straight gain on Tuesday, outperforming the S&P 500

Small-cap companies posted their fifth straight gain on Tuesday, with the Russell 2000 index gaining 1.14%, more than double the S&P 500’s 0.52% gain.

The Russell 2000 is up 2.8% since Oct. 3, while the S&P 500 is up 3.0%.

The smallcap benchmark is 11.5% below its 52-week high set on February 2, while the S&P 500 is 5.4% below its 52-week high set on July 27. In the first two trading days of this week, smallcaps are up 1.7%. compared to the S&P 500’s 1.2% rise.

– Scott Schnipper

8 hours ago

Stock futures open little changed