Belpointe chief strategist David Nelson, Simpler Trading director of options Danielle Shay and Mahoney Asset Management CEO Ken Mahoney look back on market movements in the last 12 months.
U.S. stock futures reversed into negative territory Thursday morning after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned the central bank could begin tapering its asset purchase program.
The selling persisted despite better-than-expected jobless claims which came in at 684,000, the lowest since the pandemic and a higher revision to fourth-quarter GDP up to 4.3% from 4.1%.
UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS SINK TO PANDEMIC LOWS
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 97 points, or 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures were higher by 0.19% and 0.32%, respectively. Dow futures had traded higher by as many as 152 points before Powell’s comments.
“As we make substantial further progress toward our goals, we’ll gradually roll back the amount of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities we’ve bought,” Powell told NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
Looking at stocks, Chinese tech companies traded in the U.S., including Alibaba Group Ltd. and Baidu Inc. were under pressure after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began rolling out that will boot foreign companies off American stock exchanges if they do not comply with audit standards.
Nike Inc. shares were weaker after the sneaker giant was criticized on Chinese social media for expressing its concern regarding labor camps in Xinjiang, China.
Elsewhere, Darden Restaurants Inc. reported stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue and said that same-store sales at its Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse brands have surpassed pre-pandemic levels during the second half of March. The company also announced minimum wage, including tips, will be raised to $10 per hour beginning on Monday and increased to $12 an hour by 2023.
ViacomCBS Inc. shares were lower for a third straight day after announcing a $3 billion offering of 20 million shares of Class B common stock at $85 apiece. The prior two days of selling caused the stock to drop 30% off its all-time high closing price of $100.34
In mergers and acquisitions, laser maker Coherent Inc. chose II-VI’s $7 billion buyout offer, spurning a deal made with Lumentum Holdings Inc. a few weeks prior. Coherent shareholders will receive $220 cash and 0.91 II-VI shares for each Coherent share owned.
Elsewhere, Cisco Systems Inc. was upgraded at Goldman Sachs to “buy” from “neutral” and given a $59 price target
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $1.36 to $59.82 per barrel and gold s slid $4.80 to $1,728.40 an ounce.
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Overseas markets were little changed.
Small losses engulfed all of Europe’s major index with Britain’s FTSE 225 losing 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 declining 0.2% and Germany’s DAX 30 slipping 0.14%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 outperformed, climbing 1.14%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite ticked down 0.1% and 0.07%, respectively.
