Last Updated: 4:04 PM EST
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Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.09%, 1.02%, and 1.09%, respectively. Earlier today, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the House Committee on Financial Services that he has “some confidence” about inflation moving lower, though he’s not ready to say that inflation is sustainably heading toward 2%.
He also said that they’re close to agreeing on changes to the proposed Basel III rules. Basel III is a set of international banking regulations designed to strengthen bank capital requirements and risk management to prevent financial crises.
However, they haven’t finalized these changes with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Once they do, the proposal will be opened for public feedback. Powell said the changes would adjust some rules for big banks but wouldn’t affect the Fed’s stress tests for banks.
Powell also mentioned they’re just starting to look into new liquidity rules for banks, and any new rules will be open for public comment.
In other news, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly report for the U.S. 30-Year mortgage rate. The mortgage rate decreased to 7% compared to last week’s reading of 7.03%.
Despite the decrease in rate, the number of mortgage applications fell week-over-week by 0.2%, following last week’s decline of 2.6%. In addition, mortgage application volume is down substantially on a year-over-year basis, with the Mortgage Market Index at 144.3 compared to 165.3 on July 12, 2023.
Furthermore, the Atlanta Federal Reserve updated its latest GDPNow reading, which allows it to estimate GDP growth in real time. The “nowcast” becomes more accurate as more economic data is released throughout the quarter. Currently, it estimates that the economy will expand by about 2% in the second quarter.
This is higher than its previous estimate of 1.5%, which can be attributed to last Friday’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and this morning’s wholesale trade report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
First Published: 4:52 AM EST
The U.S. futures are trending mixed on Wednesday morning after the S&P 500 (SPX) posted another record high yesterday. Investors are keenly tuning in to listen to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on the expected trajectory of the monetary policy. Powell gave favorable comments at the Senate Banking Committee testimony on July 9 and is slated to speak before the House Financial Services Committee today.
The futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and S&P 500 are up 0.22% and 0.10%, respectively, while those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are nudging down by 0.02% at 4:51 a.m. EST, July 10.
Fed Chair Powell hinted at a potential upcoming interest rate cut, propelling the stocks in the S&P 500 higher on Tuesday. The Fed is hoping to see better economic data points at the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PPI (Producer Price Index) readings on July 11 and 12, respectively. This could raise the chances of interest rate cuts at the September FOMC meeting. There are no noteworthy earnings results released today.
Notably, Apple (AAPL) stock hit a fresh 52-week high of $229.40 on July 9, while chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) gained 2.5% after KeyBanc analyst lifted the price target to $180 from $130, citing continued demand momentum for its products.
In major after-hours trading developments, LegalZoom (LZ) stock plunged over 11% on announcing CEO Dan Wernikoff’s departure and lowering of full-year Fiscal 2024 revenues. Also, shares of SMART Global Holdings (SGH) spiked nearly 6% after beating both top and bottom-line consensus estimates for Q3 FY24.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield is down at writing, floating near 4.28%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended lower, hovering near $80.95 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European indices opened higher after the French political uncertainty eased.
Asia-Pacific Markets Trend Mixed Today
Asia-Pacific indices are trending mixed on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices closed up 0.61% and 0.47%, respectively, following favorable inflation data.
Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index trended down 0.68%, 0.10%, and 0.29%, respectively. China’s CPI reading came in below expectations at 0.20% for June, while the PPI reading was in line with expectations, falling 0.8% year-over-year.
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