Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Friday, with the Dow on track for its tenth consecutive day of gains. Megacap growth and technology stocks recovered after sharp losses yesterday.
The S&P 500 and the Dow were expected to end the week higher, driven by gains in Johnson & Johnson. Chief market strategist Art Hogan noted the shift from technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks to energy, financials, and healthcare.
The Nasdaq lagged yesterday due to underwhelming earnings reports from Tesla and Netflix. However, the megacap electric automaker and the streaming video company showed improvement in premarket trading today.
The NYSE FANG+TM index, which includes megacap growth names, experienced its worst day of 2023 yesterday, contributing to the Nasdaq’s 34.4% increase this year. The focus on growth stocks, along with optimism about artificial intelligence and a resilient U.S. economy, has driven the index upwards.
The Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate hike decision and future plans remain uncertain. Goldman Sachs’ chief U.S. economist, David Mericle, believes the pace of rate hikes will slow down and expects the Fed to skip September.
As of 08:28 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis rose by 0.14%, S&P 500 e-minis increased by 0.38%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 0.63%. Analysts predict increased market volatility today due to monthly options expiration.
Shares of toymaker Mattel rose by 1.7% following the global release of the highly anticipated “Barbie” film. American Express fell by 3.9% after missing quarterly revenue expectations and keeping its full-year profit forecast unchanged.
Despite posting positive quarterly profit due to increased offshore and international drilling activity, SLB’s shares decreased by 2.4%. Market participants are also awaiting the special rebalancing of the Nasdaq 100 at the end of today’s trading session. – Reuters
Credit: The Star : Business Feed
