Last Updated: 4:07 PM EST
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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 0.79%, 0.33%, and 0.22%, respectively. Earlier today, the first estimate of Q3 2024 GDP growth was released, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis now expects GDP to have increased by 2.8% during this period, which was below the forecast of 3%.
Furthermore, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) released its Nonfarm Employment Change report, which came in much better than expected. In October, nonfarm employment increased by 233,000, whereas expectations were for an increase of 110,000.
In addition, the National Association of Realtors put out its Pending Home Sales report, which measures the month-over-month change in the number of home sales that have yet to close but are contracted to be sold. This measure excludes homes that are newly constructed. During September, Pending Home Sales increased by 7.4% compared to August, which was better than the expected 0.9% increase. This is after a 0.6% rise in the previous report.
Separately, WTI crude oil closed slightly lower at $67.21 per barrel after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly Crude Oil Inventories report, which measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by U.S. firms. Compared to last week, inventories decreased by 515,000 barrels. For reference, economists were expecting an increase of 1.5 million barrels week-over-week. This means that demand was stronger than anticipated.
First Published: 4:37 AM EST
U.S. stock futures climbed on Wednesday morning as investors looked forward to more tech earnings and key economic data. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up 0.24%, 0.18%, and 0.05%, respectively, at 4:10 a.m. EST, October 30.
In regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones declined 0.36%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.16% and 0.78%, respectively. Importantly, technology stocks were the standout performers and drove the Nasdaq higher.
In major after-market action, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) shares surged nearly 6% following a strong quarterly performance, particularly in its cloud division. Further, Reddit (RDDT) stock gained 25%, beating Q3 estimates and reporting its first quarterly profit. On the other hand, Chipotle (CMG) dropped 5.3% on mixed Q3 results. Also, AMD’s (AMD) shares fell 7.6% after the company issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the fourth quarter.
Moving on, investors are eagerly awaiting further earnings reports from tech giants like Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) today. Moreover, several crypto companies, including Coinbase (COIN), Riot Platforms (RIOT), MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Robinhood (HOOD), will release results today.
In addition to corporate earnings, economic data will also be closely watched. A preliminary reading of GDP is scheduled for release later today. The consensus forecast predicts a 3.1% annual growth rate for the third quarter, suggesting economic expansion.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield is down at the time of writing, floating near 4.246%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended higher, hovering near $67.71 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European markets opened lower today as investors looked forward to key economic data, including GDP and inflation figures, from the region. Additionally, the upcoming U.K. budget announcement added to market uncertainty.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed on Wednesday
Asia-Pacific indices traded mixed today as investors looked ahead to the release of Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data to assess the effectiveness of China’s recent stimulus measures.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.64%. Further, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices declined 0.61% and 0.12%, respectively. However, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices finished higher by 0.96% and 0.81%, respectively.
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