Last Updated: 4:05 PM EST
Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the red. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 1.68%, 0.89%, and 0.43%, respectively. On Thursday, the Department of Labor released its Initial Jobless Claims report, which came in as expected. In the past week, 232,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time.
In addition, Continuing Jobless Claims, which measures the number of unemployed people who qualify for unemployment insurance, came in at 1.863 million. This was below the forecast of 1.87 million but higher than last week’s print of 1.859 million.
Furthermore, the National Association of Realtors put out its U.S. Existing Home Sales report, which measures the change in sales of existing residential buildings during the previous month on an annualized basis. Existing home sales came in at 3.95 million for the month of July, above the expected 3.94 million.
As a result, existing home sales increased month-over-month by 1.3% after a 5.1% drop in the previous report. Indeed, existing home sales have increased only six times in the past 24 months, as higher interest rates continue to make homeownership difficult.
Finally, Markit released its preliminary monthly report for the U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures the activity levels of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector. A number over 50 represents an expansion, whereas anything below 50 means a contraction. The report came in at 48, which was lower than the expected 49.5.
First Published: 4:46 AM EST
U.S. futures remained steady on Thursday morning as investors looked forward to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual conference tomorrow, hoping to gain insight into the bank’s monetary policy. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up by about 0.02%, 0.06%, and 0.11%, respectively, at 4:30 a.m. EST, August 22.
The stock market closed higher yesterday after the Fed’s meeting minutes renewed hopes for interest rate cuts this year. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%, 0.1%, and 0.6%, respectively.
Major stock movements from yesterday’s trading session include Target (TGT), which rose 11% after reporting strong Q2 results and an improved outlook. Likewise, shares of TJX Companies (TJX) rose 6.1% on better-than-expected Q2 results and raised FY24 guidance. Conversely, Macy’s (M) stock was down 13% after a mixed Q2 earnings report.
In today’s economic reports calendar, investors are looking ahead to U.S. Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ended August 16. Additionally, Existing Home Sales and U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data points are scheduled for release today.
On the earnings front, companies such as Baidu (BIDU), Intuit (INTU), Peloton Interactive (PTON), and Workday (WDAY) will release their quarterly numbers today.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield was up, floating near 3.805% at the time of writing. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures are trending lower, hovering near $71.68 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European indices opened slightly higher on Thursday morning as investors awaited August PMI data from across the region to assess the economy’s health.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed on Thursday
Asia-Pacific indices were mixed today as investors evaluated business activity data from Japan, which showed that private sector growth hit a 15-month high in August.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.44%. Further, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices closed higher by 0.68% and 0.25%, respectively. However, China’s Shenzhen Component and Shanghai Composite indices were down by 0.82% and 0.27%, respectively.
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