Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 29, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stock futures fell as Wall Street weighed the latest earnings results and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 78 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures edged down 0.16% and 0.17%, respectively.
Salesforce slipped 1% on weak revenue guidance, while Snowflake shed 20% after announcing the retirement of its CEO and sharing disappointing product revenue guidance. Okta popped 23% on strong results.
All the major averages declined during regular trading. The 30-stock Dow lost 0.06% and fell for a third consecutive session, while the S&P 500 inched down 0.17%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.55%.
Wall Street anxiously awaits Thursday’s personal consumer expenditures reading for January. Economists are bracing for a 0.3% monthly gain and a 2.4% year-over-year move. A higher-than-expected print could dent equities and signal that recent hot consumer price index and producer price index releases were on trend.
“Investors have already backtracked dramatically from previous hopes for early rate cuts, and a disappointing PCE report could reinforce “higher for longer” concerns regarding Treasury yields,” said Joe Mazzola, Charles Schwab’s director of trading and education.
Thursday’s session caps off February trading and another positive month for the three major averages, despite a string of declines raising questions around the sustainability of the AI-driven rally. The Nasdaq is leading the pack with a 5.2% gain. The S&P 500 has jumped 4.6%, while the Dow has added 2.1%. This would mark the Dow’s first four-month winning streak since May 2021.
The back end of earnings season continues Thursday with results from Best Buy, Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Bath & Body Works.
Other key economic figures are due out, including personal income data for January, Chicago purchasing managers index data for February and the pending home sales index for January. New York Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO John Williams is also slated to moderate a discussion in the evening.
Dow heads for fourth straight winning month for first time in nearly three years
All the major averages are headed for another winning month, with the Nasdaq up 5.1% and the S&P 500 on pace for a 4.6% gain.
Even more notable is the Dow’s streak. If it closes tomorrow’s session in positive territory for February, the 30-stock index would clinch its fourth straight winning month for the first time since a streak ended in May 2021. The index is currently up 2.1% month to date.
— Samantha Subin, Chris Hayes
Snowflake, Okta among stocks making the biggest moves after the bell
These are some of the stocks on the move after the bell:
- Snowflake — Snowflake shares plunged 21% after the business software company announced the retirement of its CEO Frank Slootman. The news coincided with better-than-expected quarterly results, but weaker-than-expected product revenue guidance for the first quarter.
- Duolingo — The language learning platform skyrocketed 22% after surpassing quarterly estimates and posting strong monthly average user and bookings figures. Duolingo also provided strong revenue guidance for the first quarter and full year.
- Okta — Okta rallied 24% on better-than-expected quarterly results and first-quarter guidance.
Read the full list of stocks on the move here.
— Samantha Subin
