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Yesterday, there was an early buzz about President Putin lowering Russia's threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Today, there is a Reuters report that President Putin is open to ceasefire talks with the caveats that Ukraine not join NATO and that no territorial concessions will be made.
Alrighty then.... while the caveats might throw a wrench in ending the war with Ukraine, the chatter at least sounds better than anything involving talk of "nuclear weapons." The market will take what it can get, we suppose, but of course it wasn't taken aback for too long with yesterday's verbal bombs.
On the surface of today's equity futures trade, then, one could surmise that market participants like Putin's jawboning of ceasefire talks. That thinking seems to be getting corroborated on the surface of this morning's trade in the Treasury market, which is bereft of any safe-haven action.
The 2-yr note yield is up four basis points to 4.31% and the 10-yr note yield is up five basis points to 4.43%. There is a $16 billion 20-yr bond auction on tap today. Results will be announced at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up six points and are trading 0.1% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 26 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 95 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value.
Target (TGT) hasn't done anything to help the futures trade. It is down 16% after posting some disappointing Q3 results and Q4 guidance. The TJX Companies (TJX) for its part is down 2% after topping Q3 estimates but issuing disappointing Q4 guidance.
These reports, and the better-than-expected report from Williams-Sonoma (WSM) that has its stock up a whopping 25%, will keep the retail stocks smack in the middle of today's trading spotlight. They will be sharing that space with NVIDIA (NVDA), which is slated to report its highly anticipated results after the close.
Shares of NVDA are up 0.5% in pre-market action, which is bolstering the futures trade and perhaps investors' expectations that NVIDIA will live up to the hype with a blowout report and outlook. If it doesn't, though, there might be a blowout of a different kind for its stock.
All eyes will be on NVIDIA's report after the close and the response to that report, which will set the tone for Thursday's trading.
The tone set for today's open is one of cautious optimism following yesterday's quick recovery effort, President-elect Trump's impending pick for Treasury Secretary, and the hope that NVIDIA will deliver yet again with its results and outlook.
