A trader wears a t-shirt with Reddit’s logo, at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 21, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
U.S. stock futures were unchanged on Thursday night after all three major stock indexes cinched new record closes.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 15 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both climbed 0.1%.
In extended trading, FedEx shares rose 13%. The shipping company posted adjusted earnings that beat analysts’ estimates in its latest quarter, but it missed on revenue. Lululemon slid 10% after the athleisure retailer posted weak guidance on the back of slowing growth in North America.
For the second day in a row, all three major stock indexes closed at record levels. The major averages also hit all-time intraday highs and rose for a fourth consecutive session. The Dow gained about 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
One reason for this market optimism might stem from the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee’s expectation for three rate cuts this year even after a couple of hot inflation reports, according to Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.
Investors have “always been more aggressive on rate hikes and more aggressive on rate cuts than the Fed funds futures markets, but the Fed has delivered through the dot plot and we finally lined up,” he said.
“You get a couple of inflation data points that are a touch hotter, and I think realistically the Street’s thought process has become much more rational and lines up well with where the Fed is right now,” Hogan added.
The three major averages are tracking for healthy gains this week, with the S&P 500 pacing for a 2.4% pop and the Nasdaq tracking for a nearly 2.7% jump. The Dow is the outperformer of the three, up almost 2.8% through Thursday’s close and on pace for its best week since December.
If you’re looking ahead to April, it’s often the best month of the year for utilities, Krinsky says
Utility stocks are beating tech stocks so far in March (up 3.2% vs 2.8%) in the S&P 500 and if history is any guide, April will be a good month too.
The first full of month of Spring has been the best month of the year for utility stocks 80% of the time over the past 20 years, BTIG chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky wrote Thursday, noting that utilities have recently performed well even as interest rates have moved higher, and “look to emerge out of a multi-month base.”
Consequently, he argues the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund “looks timely here as a bearish-to-bullish reversal candidate.” The average monthly gain for XLU is 2.15% every April over the past two decades, Krinsky wrote.
S&P 500 Utilities are up 4.7% over the past month.
— Scott Schnipper
Where the major averages stand
All three major averages cinched record closing highs on Thursday, for the second session in a row. Here’s where the major averages stand for the week ahead of Friday’s trading:
- The S&P 500 is up 2.43%
- The Nasdaq Composite is up 2.68%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.76%
- The Russell 2000 is up 2.90%
— Lisa Kailai Han
Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Lululemon, FedEx and more
These are the stocks moving the most in after-hours trading:
- Lululemon Athletica — Shares of the athleisure company dropped 10%. Lululemon posted weak guidance and reported that growth in North America is slowing.
- FedEx — Shares gained nearly 13% after the shipping company beat quarterly earnings expectations.
- Dutch Bros — Shares of the drive-through coffee chain slipped about 5%. Dutch Bros announced the launch of a secondary offering of its shares by certain stockholders associated with TSG Consumer Partners L.P.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
