Jimo Chong and Matt Ott, Associated Press
10 minutes ago
A person walks in front of an electronic securities board displaying Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hoshiko Eugene)
Wall Street markets were mixed early Wednesday, but remained at or above record levels, with retailers’ performance in the spotlight amid scant economic news.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were barely in positive territory, up less than 0.1% before the bell, while S&P 500 futures were down 0.1%.
Target’s stock fell 7% before the market opened after the company announced lower quarterly sales and missed industry analysts’ profit estimates. Earlier this week, Target announced it would cut prices on thousands of household items in a bid to attract bargain-hunting customers weary of inflation.
Canadian yoga and sportswear company Lululemon fell 4% after announcing changes to its organizational structure following the resignation of its chief product officer.
This week’s headliner is Nvidia, whose stock price has soared amid excitement over its artificial intelligence technology. The company is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, and expectations are high. Nvidia stock was flat at about $954 per share early on, more than six times its value at the start of 2023.
There aren’t many strong economic indicators this week, and the biggest chance for a market rally will be earnings reports.
Wednesday’s retail-focused reporting schedule includes results from TJX Cos., Petco and Williams Sonoma.
U.S. indexes have recently risen to record levels, largely on expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year as inflation slows. The market was also boosted by an increasing number of reports showing that major U.S. companies were making better-than-expected profits.
Interest rates on mortgages, credit cards and other payments are soaring as the Federal Reserve keeps key interest rates at the highest levels in more than 20 years. The Federal Reserve is trying to walk the tightrope of squeezing the economy with high interest rates just enough to keep high inflation at bay, but not so much that it triggers a painful recession.
Later on Wednesday, the latest government data on home sales and the latest Federal Reserve minutes, where the U.S. central bank kept its benchmark borrowing rate unchanged for the sixth consecutive session, will be released.
Elsewhere, Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% after the Office for National Statistics reported a higher-than-expected inflation rate, dashing hopes for a June interest rate cut. The inflation rate in April was 2.3%, down from 3.2% in March. However, the Bank of England’s target of 2% continued to be exceeded.
France’s CAC40 was down 0.6% as of midday, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.5%.
In Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average in Tokyo fell 0.9% to 38,617.10 yen after Japan announced last month that its trade deficit widened as higher import costs outweighed an 8% year-on-year increase in exports. became. The data was weaker than analysts expected.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.2% to 19,184.85, while the Shanghai Composite Index was little changed at 3,158.54.
In South Korea, the KOSPI was almost unchanged at 2,723.46. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 7,848.10.
Taiwan’s Tyex rose 1.5%, while market giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s stock rose 2.7%.
Markets in Thailand were closed for the holiday.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 53 cents to $78.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the international standard, Brent crude, lost 55 cents to $82.33 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 156.47 yen from 156.16 yen. The euro fell to $1.0833 from $1.0854.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 5,321.41, surpassing the all-time high it set last week. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 16,832.62, a day after hitting a new record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to $39,872.99, staying just below its high hit last week.
