Stocks start Thursday higher
Stocks are on track for a down week
With more than half of the week’s trading hours in the rearview mirror, the three major indexes could suffer losses.
of Dow It led the decline this week, dropping 1.7%.of S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite They fell by 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
— Alex Harring
Both the number of unemployment insurance claims and the trade deficit have increased.
The number of new applications for unemployment compensation rose more than expected last week, hitting the highest level since late January.
Jobless claims totaled 221,000 for the week ending March 30, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week and above the Dow Jones estimate of 213,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is the highest number of cases since January 27th. The number of continuation applications with a one-week delay was 1.79 million, lower than FactSet’s estimate of 1.81 million.
In other economic news, the Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit rose to $68.9 billion in February, an increase of $1.3 billion from the same month and higher than the Dow Jones forecast of $67.7 billion. This was the largest imbalance in the goods and services index since April 2023.
— Jeff Cox
Stocks making big moves before the bell: Levi Strauss, Wayfair, etc.
These are the stocks that are moving the most in pre-market trading.
Read the complete list of transferred stocks here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Headcount reduction plans reached highest level since January 2023
Challenger Gray & Christmas said planned layoffs in March accelerated at the fastest pace in a year, but the trend to begin the year was weak.
The outplacement agency announced on Thursday that the number of layoffs for the month totaled 90,309, up 7% from February and slightly above the same month last year. However, the monthly total was the highest since January 2023.
However, totals for the first quarter of 2024 were down 5% year-over-year due to a 59% decline in tech layoffs, a 33% decline in media, and a 6% decline in financial layoffs. Job layoffs for transportation companies jumped 483%, and for industrial manufacturing industries they jumped 726%.
—Jeff Cox
Japan’s former foreign exchange diplomat says he will not intervene unless the yen exchange rate exceeds 155 yen to the dollar – Reuters
Japan will not intervene in the foreign exchange market unless the following conditions are met: circle According to Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan’s top currency diplomat from 2004 to 2007, the yen weakens when the dollar exceeds $155 against the dollar.
According to Reuters, Watanabe said intervention was unlikely at this point as the yen’s decline was within a wide range, unlike in 2022, when the currency depreciated more sharply.
He added that while the market is monitoring the $152 level against the US dollar, Japanese authorities are unlikely to consider crossing that level sufficient reason to intervene.
The yen was most recently traded at 151.68 yen against the dollar.
Crude oil rises to highest since October 2023, gold hits new high
Oil prices on Thursday rose to their highest level since October 2023 on investor concerns about supply disruptions caused by Middle East conflicts.
brent futures The stock was trading 0.21% higher at $89.53 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate Futures The price rose 0.25% to $85.62 per barrel.
Separately, spot gold It records new highs before giving up some gains. It last traded at $2,300.2 per ounce.
— Lim Huijie
Chinese government issues ‘informal instruction’ to Syngenta to withdraw $9 billion IPO: Reuters
Reuters reports that Chinese authorities have “urged” Swiss agrochemicals and seeds group Syngenta to withdraw its $9 billion IPO application.
Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that this was due to concerns about the impact of a major new product on a volatile market.
“The planned flotation finally stalled after Sinochem’s Syngenta received an informal instruction from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in March to withdraw its bid for a mega-listing,” the report said. ” he said.
Last May, Cygenta filed an application to list in Shanghai to raise 65 billion yuan ($8.98 billion), and executives said in November that it planned to go public in 2024.
The company announced last week that it was withdrawing its listing “after careful consideration of the industry environment and our development strategy.”
— Lim Huijie, Reuters
S&P Energy Sector Ends at New Record Since 2014
The energy sector’s surge – currently up nearly 16% in 2024 – comes as oil futures prices hit their highest since October last year, rising amid geopolitical tensions and OPEC+ policies. ing.
The energy sector rose 2.84% in the second quarter, making it the leader within the S&P 500 as major averages struggled to maintain the momentum of the first quarter.
–Darla Mercado, Gina Francola
Gold, Japanese and US stocks have all reached ‘escape velocity’, says one strategist
Prices for gold, Japanese stocks, and U.S. stocks have all reached “escape velocity,” according to TIS Group’s Larry Jederow and his Institutional Strategist newsletter.
With gold prices (at least nominally) at all-time highs, there is “no overhead resistance left,” Jederow wrote on Wednesday. ”[C]Central banks around the world have become bulk buyers of gold…Central banks’ interest in holding debt alternatives to sovereign debt is already there and will continue to grow, to help keep gold “on track” It will be. $2,440 to $2,490 an ounce, or $3,000 over the long term, he wrote.
Similarly, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index “has broken past all-time highs, and applying measured movement analysis to the chart suggests a long-term target of around 71,000 yen,” the strategist wrote. ”[I]”Depending on time and prices, this market could develop significantly,” he said, partly because Japanese stocks are undervalued by so many domestic and foreign investors.
Nikkei 225 index of Japanese stocks over the past 12 months.
Finally, the S&P 500 index has also “reached escape velocity,” wrote Jederoh, who earlier in his career was chief investment strategist at UBS in Zurich. “This is also a large cap, highly liquid market, at new all-time highs, no overhead resistance, profit growth, GDP growth, and what central banks can do about rising interest rates. Although limited, “the incentive to lower rates is large. As in Japan, foreign investors do not hold enough SPX,” he wrote. At the same time, he said, “American companies have global franchises, are technology leaders, next-generation technology is fluid, and they are well-known.”
— Scott Schnipper
Stock prices move significantly after hours
Let’s check out the companies that are becoming a hot topic for after-hours trading.
Levi Strauss & Company — Shares rose 8% after the company reported higher profits and sales in the first quarter. The apparel company reported adjusted earnings of 26 cents per share on revenue of $1.56 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected earnings of 21 cents per share on revenue of $1.55 billion. Levi’s also raised its full-year profit forecast.
blackberries —Cybersecurity stocks rose 7.8% after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results. According to StreetAccount, BlackBerry reported a loss of 3 cents per share, compared to his consensus estimate of a loss of 4 cents per share. Sales were $173 million, exceeding expectations of $150.5 million.
simulation plus — Small-cap stocks rose more than 7% after the release of second-quarter results. The company, which develops software for drug discovery, exceeded quarterly forecasts for both sales and final profit. Management also reaffirmed its full-year outlook, which is better than expected.
— Ha-Kyung Kim
Stock futures open flat
U.S. stock futures were trading near a flat line Wednesday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose just 4 points, or 0.01%.
Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.04% and 0.05%, respectively.
— Ha-Kyung Kim
