UBS GWM Head of Americas Equities David Lefkowitz reacts to the Dow’s worst day since August 18.prior
Stock futures pointed to a fourth day of losses Thursday as investors remained skeptical over the strength of the U.S. economy.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 50 points, or 0.14%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.14% and 0.07%, respectively.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, a survey of business conditions across the U.S., was released Wednesday afternoon and said economic activity slowed over the summer as the delta variant spread across the country.
Investors will get a glimpse into the health of the labor market when weekly jobless claims are released at 8:30 a.m. ET. First-time filings are expected to fall to a pandemic-era low of 335,000.
In stocks, United Airlines Holdings Inc. warned Thursday that quarterly revenue will fall 33% from a year ago as the delta variant has resulted in weaker travel demand. Capacity is expected to be at least 28% below year-ago levels, worse than the previous forecast of a more than 26% decline.
Rival Delta Air Lines Inc. said adjusted quarterly revenue would be at the low end of its prior guidance.
Meanwhile, GameStop Corp. posted a wider-than-expected loss as sales surged 25% from a year ago. The video game retailer did not provide an outlook or take questions on its quarterly conference call.
Lululemon beat on both the top and bottom lines as the pandemic-fueled spending boom on athletic apparel showed no signs of slowing down. The company is on track to exceed its 2023 revenue target by the end of this year.
Elsewhere, Cisco Systems Inc. was downgraded to “equal weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley over valuation concerns. The firm raised its price target by $2 to $59 per share.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked up 13 cents to $69.43 a barrel and gold rose $3.10 to $1,796.60 an ounce.
Overseas markets were mostly lower.
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European bourses were weaker across the board with France’s CAC 40 sliding 0.3% and Germany’s DAX 30 slipping 0.28% after the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged and said it would begin to taper its asset purchase plan. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.22%,
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 2.3% and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 0.49% amid reports of a further regulatory crackdown by Chinese regulators. Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.57%.
