Futures linked to the DOW JONES rose 0.05% to 46,624.80 points, while those of the S&P 500 advanced 0.01%, to 6,754.60 points. NASDAQ 100 futures fell 0.08% to 25,116.60 points.
Wall Street is coming off a generally positive day yesterday, Wednesday, in which the S&P 500 closed with a rise of 0.58% to reach new all-time highs (6,753.72 points), the eighth in the last nine days. The technological Nasdaq added 1.12% to also set a new record (23,043.38), closing above 23,000 points for the first time.
However, the DOW JONES fell a very slight 1.20 points despite NVIDIA’s bullish push. The index reached all-time highs on Friday of last week, but since then it appears to have remained stagnant.
This Thursday’s macroeconomic agenda is once again deserted due to the closure of the US Administration, which has now lasted more than a week. Today, like every Thursday, the usual initial applications for unemployment benefits should have been known, but they will not be known for the second consecutive week. The important employment report for September, which was key for the Fed’s monetary policy meeting at the end of the month, was also not known.
But at least today investors will have a statement by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. Other Fed officials, including Michelle Bowman and Mary Daly, will also speak throughout the day. These appearances come a day after the Fed published the minutes of its last monetary policy meeting, which show divisions on measures to take with interest rates in the coming months.
“Although the FOMC is now leaning towards the need to continue making its monetary policy more flexible given the weakness that the labor market has been showing, it is not clear if this fact means that its members will support one or two additional reductions in official rates in the remainder of the year,” says Juan J. Fernández-Figares, of Link Gestión. “Ten members seem in favor of it and nine opt for just a cut.”
In the business field, earnings season today welcomes some of the first big names, such as PepsiCo and Delta Air Lines.
In the case of PepsiCo, it achieves exceed analyst expectations on both the revenue and profit linesthanks to the growth of the international business offset the decline in North America.
The beverage and snack giant posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.29, compared to the $2.26 analysts had expected. Revenues increased by 2.6% to a figure of 23,940 million, also exceeding the 23,830 million that the market had expected. Shares rise moderately in the pre-open.
Delta Air Lines posts advances of almost 6.5% after beat market expectations and also improve your forecasts for the year. The airline earned an adjusted $1.7 per share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, above the expected $1.53. Adjusted revenues amounted to 15.2 billion, compared to the expected 15.06 billion.
The company projects adjusted earnings of between $1.60 and $1.90 per share for the fourth quarter, compared with the $1.65 per share analysts expected. Revenue in the last three months of the year will grow up to 4%, above the 1.7% that Wall Street expects.
Bassett Furniture Industries drops almost 2% despite showing an improvement in profits from the previous year. The company earned 9 cents per share on revenue of $80.1 million in the third quarter. In the same period a year earlier, Bassett lost 52 cents per share and posted revenue of $75.6 million.
Outside earnings season, Akero Therapeutics soars nearly 18% following biopharmaceutical announcement of its acquisition by Novo Nordisk for $54 per share, equivalent to $4.7 billion in cash.
Akero manufactures advanced drugs to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Its drug, efruxifermin, is in Phase 3 clinical trials. «If approved, we believe we can become a STEAM therapy, alone or in combination with Wegovy (semaglutide), to address one of the fastest growing metabolic diseases today. This acquisition reflects Novo Nordisk’s relentless ambition to move faster, go further there and ultimately deliver on our commitment to leadership in research on diabetes, obesity and their associated comorbidities,” stated Mike Doustdar, CEO of Novo Nordisk, in a statement.
In the analysts’ recommendations, Baird has kicked off Oracle coverage with a tip of ‘overweight‘ and a price target of $365 per share that represents a upside potential of 27%. “We believe Oracle is very well positioned to benefit from increased investment in AI infrastructure,” says analyst Rob Oliver.
In commodity markets, oil prices are moving lower in Thursday’s session after Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza, easing geopolitical tension in the Middle East. US West Texas oil futures fell 0.61% to $62.16 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude fell 0.53% to $65.90.
The one that seems to have no brakes is the price of gold, which remains at historic highs above $4,000 per ounce, fueled by political uncertainty in the US and France and the prospects of Fed rate cuts. In its spot variety, it rises 1.43% to reach $4,041.61 per ounce.
Today the euro falls 0.15% against the dollar, leaving the exchange rate at 1.1612 dollars for each community currency.