BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist Brian Belski discusses his market outlook.
U.S. equity futures traded lower Thursday after Federal Reserve policymakers indicated they are leaning toward more decisive action on inflation but set no firm targets.
The major futures indexes suggest a decline of 0.4% after a mixed session on Wednesday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 34934.27 | -54.57 | -0.16% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4475.01 | +3.94 | +0.09% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 14124.094614 | -15.66 | -0.11% |
Investors also continue to watch for a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as oil held steady around $90 per barrel.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P. | 63.54 | -0.74 | -1.15% |
In earnings news, Walmart shares rose after profits and sales came in ahead of expectations and the retailer delivered a solid forecast for the year with profits expected to rise by mid-single-digits and sales around 3%. It also boosted its dividend to $0.56 per share.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 133.53 | -0.84 | -0.63% |
DoorDash Inc shares also popped after quarterly revenue beat estimates as food delivery demand showed no sign of slowing.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DASH | DOORDASH INC. | 94.89 | -6.92 | -6.80% |
Shares of Cisco rose after the networking firm announced a $15 billion increase to its stock repurchase program and reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSCO | CISCO SYSTEMS INC. | 54.25 | -0.02 | -0.04% |
Chipmaker Nvidia also in focus after posting strong quarterly results.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 265.11 | +0.16 | +0.06% |
Fastly, the cloud management company, saw its shares sink over 30% after forecasting weaker than expected revenue and a wider than expected loss.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FSLY | FASTLY INC. | 28.93 | -0.57 | -1.93% |
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In economic data, the Labor Department will release new claims for unemployment benefits for last week. Expectations are for 219,000, down from 223,000 the previous week and the fourth straight weekly decline. Continuing claims, which track the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits, are anticipated to fall by 16,000 to 1.605 million.
RETAIL SALES RISE FASTER THAN EXPECTED IN JANUARY DESPITE SURGING INFLATION
Meantime the Commerce Department is expected to say that the number of new homes under construction in January fell 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7 million. That’s down from 1.702 million in December. Permits for future construction are anticipated to fall 6.6% to 1.76 million in January, down from an 11-month high of 1.873 million in December.
And the Philadelphia Federal Reserve will release its index of manufacturing activity for eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware. It’s expected to slip 3.2 points this month to a reading of 20.0. Any reading above zero means that more manufacturers say business conditions are improving rather than worsening.
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Bitcoin hovered around $43,000.
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FOX Business’ Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.