Traders react after the closing bell on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on March 20, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stock futures are trading near the flatline overnight as the S&P 500 approached its best first-quarter performance in five years.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 31 points, or 0.08%. S&P 500 futures inched lower by 0.09%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.1%.
In extended trading, shares of luxury home furnishings retailer RH jumped 8% after management indicated that demand trends are expected to accelerate throughout fiscal 2024. Nevertheless, the company missed estimates in its latest quarter and issued a weak outlook for the first quarter.
Stocks rallied across the board on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.86% to close at a record-high level, pacing for its best first quarter since 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 477.75 points, or 1.22%, for its best day in 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, added 0.51%.
“You’ve got a combination of things that are happening with a calendar and a slow news week, with the largest piece of data coming out on Friday when the market’s closed, so you’ve got investors that feel invigorated and a more risk-on attitude seems to be driving markets,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.
The major averages are tracking for their second consecutive winning quarter and fifth straight winning month.
For the quarter, the S&P 500 is up about 10%. It is on pace for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rallied 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow, up 5.5% during the period, is tracking for its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it advanced 7.4%. The Nasdaq is up 9.3% in the quarter thus far.
On a monthly basis, the S&P 500 is up 3%. The Nasdaq and the Dow are both pacing for advances of more than 1.9%.
Investors are awaiting data on jobless claims, gross domestic product and consumer sentiment out Thursday.
Although the market will be closed due to Good Friday, economic data tied to personal income, consumer spending and personal consumption expenditures will be released that day.
Flows to cash could be waning in favor of risk assets, Barclays says
Cash as an asset class has commanded equity fund flows, but Barclays believes its reign could be nearing its end.
“Cash remains in favor as it is seeing the most inflows ytd, but momentum is slowing, in our view,” wrote analyst Emmanuel Cau.
In the near term, Cau believes that quarter-end rebalancing could favor bonds over stocks. Further out, rate cuts and resilient earnings fundamentals could widen the equity market rally.
“A change of market leadership away from US/Tech/Quality could provide a healthy broadening outward and may even give the bull market legs,” he added.
— Lisa Kailai Han
GE Vernova and Solventum will join the S&P 500 in April
GE Vernova and Solventum are set to join the S&P 500 next week.
Solventum, 3M‘s health-care business, will be added to the broad market index on April 1 – the same date that it’s expected to be spun off from the multinational conglomerate. It will trade under the symbol SOLV.
GE Vernova, General Electric‘s power business, will become part of the S&P 500 on April 2. That’s the same day that it will formally be spun off from GE and trade under the ticker GEV. On that date, GE will also be renamed GE Aerospace and maintain its position in both the S&P 500 and the S&P 100.
S&P Dow Jones Indices will drop V.F. Corp and Dentsply Sirona from the broad market index, with the latter joining the S&P Midcap 400.
-Darla Mercado
RH, Verint Systems lead after-hours movers
Check out the stocks making headlines in extended trading:
- RH — Shares of luxury home furnishings retailer RH jumped 7% after the company said it expects its demand trends to accelerate throughout fiscal year 2024, even as it foresees business conditions to “remain challenging” until interest rates ease and the housing market bounces back. RH missed earnings and revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, however, and guided first-quarter revenue down to the low-single digits.
- MillerKnoll — The stock plunged 12.8% after falling short on third-quarter revenue estimates. The company, which makes seating products and furniture systems, reported 45 cents per share in adjusted earnings, while analysts expected 44 cents per share. Revenue came out at $872.3 million, below analysts’ expectations of $909.6 million for the quarterly period, per FactSet.
- Sprinklr — Shares added 7.6% after the software stock after the company beat fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Sprinklr reported adjusted earnings per share of 13 cents, which came out 4 cents above analysts’ forecasts, per FactSet. The company’s revenue of $194.2 million also surpassed expectations of $188.7 million.
- Verint Systems — Shares rose 5.2% after the customer engagement solutions provider beat fourth-quarter earnings per share and revenue estimates. The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.07 per share on revenue of $265.1 million, while analysts polled by FactSet had called for 97 cents per share in adjusted earnings on revenue of $262.5 million.
— Pia Singh
