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Briefing.com Summary:
*Market participants are poring through a ton of earnings reports released since yesterday's close.
*Growth stocks are in the spotlight after a deluge of earnings reports.
*Job cuts in October hit their highest level for any October since 2003.
To say there have been a lot of earnings reports since yesterday's close is an understatement. There have been earnings reports galore, and the focus has been on the results from growth companies like Qualcomm (QCOM), DoorDash (DASH), Joby Aviation (JOBY), Robinhood Markets (HOOD), AppLovin (APP), Snap (SNAP), Fortinet (FTNT), Figma (FIG), Lyft (LYFT), and elf Beauty (ELF).
The response to those results has been mixed, either because of disappointments or valuation concerns or both. The neutralizer, so to speak, is that NVIDIA (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL) are up 1.0% and 1.6%, respectively, in pre-market trading.
NVIDIA is up because, well, it is NVIDIA. Alphabet is up on reports that it is in discussions to strengthen its investment in Anthropic and that it will make its powerful AI chip, Ironwood, available in weeks. New story lines perhaps, but the same AI growth enthusiasm trade.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up 13 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 46 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 36 points and are trading 0.1% above fair value.
Those indications will translate into modest gains for the major indices at today's open. They will be supported by the dip in market rates after yesterday's rise. The 2-yr note yield is down four basis points to 3.59%, and the 10-yr note yield is down four basis points to 4.12%.
Word from Challenger, Gray & Christmas that job cuts in October (153,074) hit their highest level for any October since 2003 has facilitated some of the interest in the Treasury market, which was grappling yesterday with the word from ISM that the price index for the ISM Services PMI hit its highest level in three years and the notion that the Supreme Court might rule against the president's tariff actions.
There is, quite simply, a lot of news in the mix that addresses both micro and macro developments, including the Bank of England's 5-to-4 vote to leave its bank rate at 4.00% and the FAA reducing flight capacity by 10% at 40 major airports because of the government shutdown.
One could consider all the news information overload as a basis for why the market's response has been more measured. It is difficult to say, but one thing for sure is that the stock market is still aiming to put up a fight to reclaim losses suffered earlier in the week.
