Kaltbaum Capital Management President Gary Kaltbaum and Bokeh Capital Partners Founders and CIO Kim Forrest discuss market timing and Biden meeting with tech CEOs on cybersecurity.
U.S. stock indexes were mixed Thursday morning as the Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day event that could lay the foundation for tapering and rate hikes.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked up 11 points, or 0.03%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.07% and 0.17%. Both the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index closed at all-time highs on Wednesday.
The Fed’s virtual Jackson Hole Symposium begins Thursday, but the key event will be Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday that could signal when the central bank could begin to scale back its asset purchases and eventually raise interest rates in an effort to rein in inflation.
FED CHAIR POWELL MAY NOT DELIVER TAPERING ROADMAP AT JACKSON HOLE
In stocks, financials were in focus as investors looked ahead to Powell’s speech and clues for when rate hikes might begin.
Elsewhere, Western Digital Corp. and Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. are in talks to merge in a more than $20 billion deal that would create a giant chipmaker, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
In earnings, Salesforce.com Inc.’s quarterly results topped analysts’ expectations and the company raised its full-year earnings forecast after closing its acquisition of workplace messenger Slack.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM | SALESFORCE.COM, INC. | 260.85 | +1.19 | +0.46% |
Dollar General Corp.’s full-year profit forecast missed estimates as the company worried higher costs would hurt margins. Rival Dollar Tree Inc. slashed its annual profit forecast amid similar concerns and noted supply chain issues.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG | DOLLAR GENERAL CORP. | 234.74 | +1.99 | +0.85% |
| DLTR | DOLLAR TREE, INC. | 106.32 | +1.11 | +1.05% |
Kitchenware and home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. raised its quarterly dividend by 20.3% to 71 cents per share and announced a new $1.25 billion share buyback program. The company’s earnings and sales exceeded Wall Street estimates.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSM | WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC. | 170.74 | +1.18 | +0.70% |
Cosmetics maker Coty Inc. reported better than expected top and bottom-line results and forecast annual sales growth for the first time in at least three years. Beauty products retailer Ulta Beauty Inc. also issued a strong full-year sales forecast.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COTY | COTY, INC. | 8.23 | +0.06 | +0.73% |
| ULTA | ULTA BEAUTY, INC. | 389.90 | +16.05 | +4.29% |
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 68 cents to $67.68 a barrel and gold fell $1.40 to $1789.60 an ounce.
Overseas markets were mostly lower.
European bourses were under modest selling pressure with Germany’s DAX 30 declining 0.59%, France’s CAC 40 sinking 0.38% and Britain’s FTSE 100 slipping 0.26%.
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In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.58% after the Bank of Korea hikes interest rates.
Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.08% and 1.09%, respectively, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 eked out a 0.06% gain.
