Traders walk the floor during morning trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on May 14, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stock futures were near flat Wednesday evening after a lighter-than-expected inflation reading propelled the major averages to record highs.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures ticked higher by 0.06%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.1%.
In regular trading, all three major averages closed at records. The Dow climbed 0.88%, while the broad-market S&P 500 gained 1.17%, ending the session above 5,300 for the first time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed higher by 1.40%.
That performance was helped by the April reading of the consumer price index, a broad measure of how much goods and services cost at the cash register, which increased 0.3% from the prior month. That was slightly below the Dow Jones estimate of 0.4%. Consumer prices still grew 3.4% from a year ago.
“The market is recognizing that the inflation dynamics look favorable,” Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer at BMO Wealth Management, told CNBC. “Combine that with some of the takeaways from the earnings season, which were pretty healthy earnings and favorable outlooks overall, the market was just coiled to look to interpret news as good news.”
“[That] is the hallmark of a bull market,” he added, “to take take something that could be two-sided and call it good.”
On Thursday, investors have a batch of economic data to look forward to, including the widely watched weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index.
Investors are also looking forward to Walmart earnings, due before the bell, along with Under Armour and Baidu.
Homebuilding ETF pops to its best day since December
Wednesday’s market rally lifted the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) to its best day since December.
The ITB jumped 3.7%, posting its best session since Dec. 14 – back when it gained more than 6%. Year to date, the ETF is up more than 10%
Wednesday’s surge in homebuilding stocks occurred as Treasury yields retreated following a cooler-than-expected inflation report. Names tied to the housing sector are especially sensitive to movement in interest rates.
Names within the ITB that saw an especially strong day include D.R. Horton, up nearly 6.5%, and Lennar, up 5.3%. PulteGroup also jumped more than 5%.
–Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes, Ethan Kraft
Election cycle defense budget debates could boost sector, Barclays says
While earnings consensus revisions remain flat for the U.S. defense sector in the near term, Barclays believes this trend could reverse in the next year or so.
“We expect the debate around future defense budget to be pushed back until early 2025, following the Presidential election, potentially creating a window of opportunity for the defense sector to recover from recent underperformance,” wrote analyst Charlotte Keyworth.
Within the U.S. defense sector, Keyworth prefers General Dynamics and L3Harris Technologies for their discounted multiples and good free cash flow growth.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
These are some of the biggest movers in extended trading:
- AST SpaceMobile — Shares rocketed 42% after AST SpaceMobile announced a commercial agreement with AT&T to bring its space-based broadband network direct to everyday cell phones.
- Chubb — The property and casualty insurer gained 7% after Berkshire Hathaway revealed it has bought nearly 26 million shares of Zurich-based company for a stake worth $6.7 billion.
- Cisco Systems — Shares jumped nearly 5% after the IT giant reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share on revenues of $12.70 billion, topping analysts’ estimates for earnings of 82 cents per share on revenues of $12.53 billion, according to LSEG.
For more stocks on the move check out our list here.
— Tanaya Macheel
Stock futures open little changed
Stock futures were little changed to begin trading on Wednesday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by 0.02%, while S&P 500 futures ticked lower by 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 futures inched higher by 0.02%.
In regular trading, all of the major averages closed at record highs.
— Tanaya Macheel
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