Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are down three points and are trading fractionally below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 39 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up ten points and are trading fractionally above fair value.

There's not a lot of conviction in early trading, leading stock futures to trade flattish. Worries about the labor market have contributed to recent selling interest, so investors will be focused on the weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 ET. The revised Q2 productivity and unit labor costs numbers are also released at 8:30 ET.

Ahead of that data, the August ADP Employment Change estimate is released at 8:15 ET. Other influential data today include the August ISM Services Index at 10:00 ET. 

The 10-yr note yield sits at 3.77%, unchanged from yesterday's settlement, and the 2-yr yield is up one basis point to 3.78%.

In corporate news:

• NIO (NIO 4.34, +0.10, +2.4%): reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 revs above consensus
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE 18.14, -0.63, -3.4%): beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 midpoints of EPS and revs above consensus
• Casey's General (CASY 351.99, -2.53, -0.7%): beats by $0.33, misses on revs, inside comps of +2.3%; FY25 outlook unchanged, no updates until after closing of previously disclosed Fikes transaction
• Verint Systems (VRNT 25.78, -4.09, -13.7%): misses by $0.04, misses on revs; guides FY25 EPS below consensus, reaffirms FY25 revs guidance; authorizes $200 million stock buyback program
• C3.ai (AI 18.53, -4.48, -19.5%): beats by $0.08, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 revs in-line; reaffirms FY25 revs guidance
• ChargePoint (CHPT 1.57, -0.12, -7.2%): misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q3 revs below consensus; to reduce workforce by approximately 15%
• Verizon (VZ 42.00, +0.52, +1.3%): Frontier Communications Parent to be acquired by Verizon for $38.50 per share; Verizon reaffirms FY24 guidance
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 166.84, -0.52, -0.3%): aiming to pay an additional $1.1 billion to resolve talc lawsuits, according to Reuters
• Boeing (BA 163.63, +0.41, +0.3%): Starliner will undock from space station without crew, according to WSJ
• ASML (ASML 806.50, -4.98, -0.6%): CEO says the U.S. export restrictions to China are economically motivated, according to Reuters

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mostly lower note. Japan's Nikkei: -1.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.1%, China's Shanghai Composite: +0.1%, India's Sensex: -0.2%, South Korea's Kospi: -0.2%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.4%.
  • In economic data:
    • Japan's July Wages 3.6% yr/yr (expected 3.0%; last 4.5%)
    • South Korea's Q2 GDP -0.2% qtr/qtr, as expected (last 1.3%); 2.3% yr/yr, as expected (last 3.3%)
    • Singapore's July Retail Sales 3.1% m/m (last -3.7%); 1.0% yr/yr (last -0.6%)
    • Australia's July trade surplus AUD6.01 bln (expected surplus of AUD5.05 bln; last surplus of AUD5.43 bln). July Imports -0.8% m/m (last 0.4%) and Exports 0.7% m/m (last 1.4%)
  • In news:
    • Japan's Nikkei (-1.1%) showing relative weakness.
    • China's government will reportedly split its planned mortgage refinancing scheme into two parts.
    • China's President Xi spoke in favor of deepening ties with African countries.
    • Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Bullock said that it is too early to consider rate cuts, adding that tighter policy may be needed if inflation doesn't recede.
• Major European indices are mixed. STOXX Europe 600: -0.3%, Germany's DAX: +0.2%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: -0.2%, France's CAC 40: -0.7%, Italy's FTSE MIB: +0.1%, Spain's IBEX 35: +0.7%.
  • In economic data:
    • Eurozone's July Retail Sales 0.1% m/m, as expected (last -0.4%); -0.1% yr/yr (expected 0.1%; last -0.4%)
    • Germany's July Factory Orders 2.9% m/m (expected -1.6%; last 4.6%)
    • U.K.'s August Construction PMI 53.6 (expected 54.6; last 55.3)
    • Swiss August Unemployment Rate 2.5%, as expected (last 2.5%)
  • In news:
    • The Bank of England's latest Decision Maker Panel survey showed that year-ahead inflation expectations remained at 2.7% while the three-year outlook rose to 2.7% from 2.5%.
    • The British Chamber of Commerce believes that CPI will not return to target until early 2027.
    • Germany's ifo Institute lowered its domestic growth forecast for 2024 to stagnation from 0.4% while the outlook for 2025 was reduced to 0.9% from 1.5%.