Stock futures rise as Wall Street awaits fresh economic data

Bank of England on Thursday Raised interest rates by half a percentage point, It was the sixth consecutive increase in the rate and the first pump since 1997 in an effort to curb inflation.

There is also inflation in the UK Highest in 40 years, and is poised to keep going up. The bank now expects headline inflation to be around 13% in October, meaning its rate hikes will continue.

— Carmen Reinicke

Bernstein strategists, led by Sarah McCarthy, said they expect the market to drop another foot in the short term.

“While long-term sentiment indicators are sufficient to take a positive view on stocks with a 12-month horizon, in the short-term, we think the market could be another leg down as earnings are at the beginning of the cycle, and we are yet to see meaningful exits from equity funds,” they said in a note to clients on Thursday. said in the note.

The comments come as the market has enjoyed a sharp rebound since mid-June. Since then, the S&P 500 has gained 14.25%.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a muted dip on Thursday as the market took a breather following a rally in the previous session. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures, combined with the Dow Jones industrial average, rose less than 0.1%.

—Fred Imbert

European stocks were muted on Thursday as uncertainty returned following the previous session’s gains.

Pan-European Stoxx 600 It was up 0.2% in the morning. Retail stocks rose 2.2%, while telecoms fell 0.5%.

of England FTSE Pulled forward Bank of EnglandMonetary policy decision later on Thursday. The central bank is widely expected Raised interest rates by 50 basis pointsIts biggest single increase since 1995.

Ali Baba The market is set to report first-quarter earnings before the start of the fiscal year and analysts expect the Chinese e-commerce giant to It posted its first revenue decline.

Alibaba reported revenue of 203.19 billion yuan ($30 billion) in the June quarter, down 1.2% from a year ago, according to consensus estimates from Refinitiv.

Alibaba has been reeling from a tough regulatory environment in China to the resurgence of Covid in the world’s second-largest economy, leading to lockdowns in major cities. Those factors will hit the Chinese economy, reduce advertising budgets and consumer spending, and affect Alibaba’s June quarter results.

However, analysts expect the company to return to growth in the coming quarters. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares were up 4% on earnings.

– Arjun Karpal

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Now is a good time to buy gold According to analysis by commodity trader Larry Williams, the signs point to a rally.

The “Crazy money“The host explained Williams’ analysis by looking at gold’s weekly action since 2014 and data on small speculators’ positions on gold from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Traders’ Commitments Report.

According to Williams, gold prices typically peak when small speculators are bullish on the precious metal, and bottom out when small speculators are too bullish.

“Charts illustrated by the legendary Larry Williams suggest that the public is giving up on gold in droves, and he thinks this is the perfect entry time to make some purchases,” Cramer said.

– Abigail Ng, Crystal Hur

Stocks are volatile, and bonds have underperformed for most of the year, with US investment-grade bonds falling in 2022.

But analysts have recently been bullish on income investing as yields begin to rise again.

Here are some positive ways investors can diversify their portfolios and hedge against market volatility and earn higher yields as inflation continues to rise. Pro subscribers can read the story here.

– Weissen Don

Fortinet shares fell more than 9% in extended trading after the cybersecurity company reported its quarterly results that included free cash flow of $283.5 million, compared with FactSet estimates of $337.2 million. Services revenue also missed estimates.

Other cybersecurity stocks also fell after hours. CrowdStrike fell 1% and Palo Alto Networks lost more than 1%.

– Tanaya Machil

Walmart has it The company started laying off employees A week after the retail company It cut its profit outlook and warned of a slowdown in consumer discretionary spending due to inflation. In a statement to CNBC, the company described the layoffs as a way to “better position the company for a strong future.” Shares were down less than 1% after hours.

– Tanaya Machil

Shares of the electric luxury vehicle maker A clear group After the company fell 11.7% in extended trading It lowered its full-year production targets 6,000 for the second time. The original forecast was 20,000. The company also reported a quarterly loss of 33 cents per share.

– Tanaya Machil