Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are down eight points and are trading 0.2% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 30 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 110 points and are trading 0.3% below fair value.

Participants are waiting on the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 8:30 ET. Early trading features a negative bias driven in part by pre-open losses in some mega caps and chipmakers.  

Investors are also digesting last night's presidential debate. 63% of people who watched the debate said that VP Kamala Harris had a better performance than former President Trump, according to CNN.

The 10-yr note yield is down three basis points to 3.62% and the 2-yr yield is down three basis points to 3.58%.

In corporate news:

• Bank of America (BAC 39.03, -0.25, -0.6%): 10% owner Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Warren Buffett sold 5,797,093 shares worth approx. $228.7 mln
• Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF 3.07, +0.0, +0.0%): reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line
• GameStop (GME 20.93, -2.52, -10.8%): beats by $0.13, misses on revs; discloses it initiated a comprehensive store portfolio optimization review
• Dave & Buster's (PLAY 33.95, +4.09, +13.7%): beats by $0.28, reports revs in-line, comparable store sales decreased 6.3%
• Albemarle (ALB 85.20, +6.58, +8.4%): Lithium names lower pre-market following report that CATL wants to adjust its lithium production in Jiangxi, according to Reuters

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the midweek session on a lower note, reflecting some apprehension ahead of this morning's release of the U.S. CPI report for August (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%; prior 0.2%). Japan's Nikkei: -1.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.7%, China's Shanghai Composite: -0.8%, India's Sensex: -0.5%, South Korea's Kospi: -0.4%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.3%.
  • In economic data:
    • Japan's September Reuters Tankan Index 4 (last 10)
    • South Korea's August Unemployment Rate 2.4% (last 2.5%)
    • New Zealand's July External Migration & Visitors 3.8% m/m (last 3.8%)
  • In news:
    • The soft showing took place alongside renewed yen strength that lifted the Japanese currency past its early August high against the dollar.
    • Bank of Japan policymaker Nakagawa said that real rates are at a very low level and that the level of easing will be adjusted if the outlook is fulfilled.
    • South Korea's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since the series started in 1999.
• Major European indices trade on a modestly higher note. STOXX Europe 600: +0.3%, Germany's DAX: +0.4%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.1%, France's CAC 40: +0.3%, Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.1%, Spain's IBEX 35: +0.8%.
  • In economic data:
    
    • U.K.'s July GDP 0.0% m/m (expected 0.2%; last 0.0%); 1.2% yr/yr (expected 1.4%; last 0.7%). July Construction Output -0.4% m/m (expected 0.4%; last 0.5%); -1.6% yr/yr (expected -1.0%; last -1.7%), July Industrial Production -0.8% m/m (expected 0.3%; last 0.8%); -1.2% yr/yr (expected -0.2%; last -1.4%), and
    • July Manufacturing Production -1.0% m/m (expected 0.2%; last 1.1%); -1.3% yr/yr (expected -0.1%; last -1.5%). July trade deficit GBP20.00 bln (expected deficit of GBP18.00 bln; last deficit of GBP18.89 bln)
  • In news:
    • Spain's IBEX (+0.7%) outperforms after the owner of Zara reported strong results for the first half of the year and made positive comments about the current quarter.
    • The U.K. reported below-consensus growth figures for July ahead of next week's policy meeting at the Bank of England.
    • Germany's government began reducing its stake in Commerzbank.
    • The Bank of France expects Q3 domestic growth between 0.3% and 0.4% with about 25 basis points of growth from the Olympics.