Fairlead Strategies founder and managing partner Katie Stockton provides insight into today’s markets.
U.S. equity markets traded mixed on Wednesday, a day after snapping their losing streaks.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 141 points, or 0.52%, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 was higher by 0.12%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, was off 0.2%.
The Dow on Tuesday snapped its three-day skid as the S&P and Nasdaq ended their losing streaks at four days.
Looking at stocks, Tesla Inc.’s Battery Day event failed to deliver the 1 million-mile battery that Wall Street analysts were expecting. The headlines were instead a new battery pack that will reduce kilowatt-hour costs by 50% and improve vehicle range by 16%.
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine candidate is moving ahead to a Phase 3 trial that will include up to 60,000 adults. There is no clear timeline for when a successful vaccine would be available for distribution.
Looking at earnings, Nike Inc. shares soared to a record high after the sports-apparel giant reported quarterly profit rose 11% from a year ago as COVID-19 resulted in surging online sales of sneakers and workout apparel.
KB Home beat on both the top and bottom lines, but the number of homes delivered fell 16% year-over-year to 2,545 amid disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Stitch Fix Inc. reported a deeper-than-expected loss while sales grew 9% from the prior quarter as the subscription-based personal shopping platform worked through supply chain issues caused by COVID-19.
Elsewhere, Lululemon Athletica Inc. resumed its share buyback program that was paused amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, which expires on Jan. 31, 2021, has $263.6 million remaining.
Looking at commodities, gold fell $16.30 to $1,891.30 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil inched up 10 cents to $39.90 per barrel.
U.S. Treasurys were quiet with the 10-year note yield holding near 0.672%.
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European markets were sharply higher with Britain’s FTSE trading up 2.27%, France’s CAC advancing 1.74% and Germany’s DAX gaining 1.56%.
In Asia, markets ended little changed with Japan’s Nikkei off 0.06% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.11% and 0.16%, respectively.
