U.S. stock futures were little changed on Wednesday as traders await the release of the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25 points, sitting near flat. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures dipped 0.2%.
The personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) is set for release at 10 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a year-over-year increase of 2.8% for the core reading, which excludes food and energy. Investors will look through the data for indications on how the Fed may proceed on its rate policy at its December meeting.
That comes a day after the Fed issued the meetings from its November meeting. While central bank officials said they anticipate more interest rate cuts coming down the pike, they said the pace of cuts would happen “gradually.”
“I think they’ll cut again [in December],” Stephen Stanley, Santander U.S. Capital Markets chief U.S. economist, told CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” “I think they feel like they’re still pretty far away from neutral, so they feel like they still have some distance to go and they’d like to get another notch in their belt on that.”
Other key data out on Wednesday include personal income and consumer spending for October. That’s also scheduled to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
It’s a shortened trading week in the U.S., with the market dark for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and set to close early Friday. Trading volume is anticipated to remain light.
Still, stocks finished in the green across the three major averages on Tuesday. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow reached fresh intraday and closing highs.
Loop says investors can ‘hide’ in these retailers until tariffs become clearer
Despite expectations of a rosy holiday shopping season, investors in retail stocks may want to take some cover amid the uncertainty of new tariffs.
The U.S. macroeconomic backdrop, including the strong labor market, rising consumer prices and falling gasoline costs, provide a healthy tailwind for the retailers this holiday season, analyst Anthony Chukumba said in a note Wednesday.
“That said, we believe President-elect Trump’s continued fixation on tariffs provides a substantial
overhang to the retail industry,” he wrote.
Trump said Monday he plans to raise tariffs on all Chinese goods coming into the U.S. by an additional 10%. He also wants to place a 25% levy on all products from Canada and Mexico.
“We believe retailers with as little international sourcing as possible—including Dollar General, Grocery Outlet, and Savers Value Village—may be a good place for investors to ‘hide’ until the tariff picture becomes clearer,” Chukumba said.
— Michelle Fox
Citi upgrades Urban Outfitters to buy
Citi liked what it saw from Urban Outfitters’ latest earnings report.
The bank upgraded the retailer to buy from neutral. Analyst Paul Lejuez also raised his price target on the stock to $59 from $42, implying upside of 47% from Tuesday’s close.
Urban Outfitters posted on Tuesday third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations. The company also issued strong fourth-quarter guidance.
“While 3Q comps of -9% were weak overall, there were several signs that the brand is moving in the right direction. Profitability improved for the first time in many qtrs, comps/traffic improved sequentially throughout 3Q and exited the qtr in better shape, driving mgmt to guide to a 4Q comp improvement to -MSD with stronger margins (vs LY),” the analyst wrote. “Momentum in key categories, including denim, accessories, home and lounge are driving the comp improvement into holiday with more broad-based improvements expected in the assortment in spring ’25 as the brand refocuses on their core 16-28 yr old demo.”
— Fred Imbert
European markets subdued as traders assess the tariff threat
European markets traded lower Wednesday as investors continued to assess the potential impact of President-elect Donald Trump‘s plans to hike tariffs.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.2% lower by mid-morning, with most sectors in negative territory.
Shares of Easyjet were up 1.5% after the budget airline posted a 25% rise in full-year operating profit but shares of Aston Martin were down 4% after the luxury carmaker issued another profit warning. Shares of Just Eat Takeaway fell 1% after the company announced it would delist from the London Stock Exchange.
Global markets have traded mixed since Trump said Monday that one of his first acts in office would be to impose an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods entering the U.S., and threatened a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, ending a regional free trade agreement.
— Holly Ellyatt
Small-cap benchmark takes a breather but remains on track for big November gains
It was a less-than-stellar session for the Russell 2000, as it clipped a six-day winning run on Tuesday.
The small-cap index lagged the three major averages, slumping about 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to fresh record closes.
Nevertheless, the Russell 2000 is enjoying a strong November, as investors have snapped up cyclical stocks since Donald Trump won a second term in the White House earlier this month.
The Russell is on track for a 10.4% jump month to date, besting the 5.5% gain the S&P 500 is carrying this month. The small-cap benchmark has also topped the Nasdaq Composite‘s nearly 6% advance in November and the Dow’s 7.4% jump.
—Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes
Dell Technologies, Workday among the names making moves in overnight trading
Some stocks are making big moves in extended trading:
- Dell Technologies – The stock tumbled more than 10% on the heels of the company posting weaker-than-expected revenue for the fiscal third quarter. Dell posted $24.37 billion for the period, which is lower than the $24.67 billion that analysts had penciled in, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings, however, beat Wall Street’s expectations.
- HP – Shares slid 7% after the personal computing company offered weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for its fiscal 2025 first quarter. HP expects to earn between 70 cents and 76 cents, excluding items, while analysts polled by FactSet were anticipating 85 cents per share for the period.
- Workday – The stock slid 10% after the human resources software company announced that it sees its subscription revenues and its operating margin coming in lower-than-expected for the fourth quarter. Workday forecasted $2.025 billion in subscription revenues and an operating margin of 25% for the period, while analysts polled by StreetAccount estimated $2.04 billion in subscription revenues and an operating margin of 25.5%.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
Stock futures are little changed
Stock futures opened little changed on Tuesday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures likewise moved 0.04% higher, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.03%.
— Sean Conlon
