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U.S. stocks have hit a series of record closing highs in the past few sessions, driven by a much stronger-than-expected earnings season and positive news about COVID-19 vaccinations.
Among earnings-driven moves, cosmetics maker Coty (NYSE:COTY) gained 2.8% in premarket trading, while beauty chain Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Inc climbed 5.3%. Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG), however, slipped 3.6% after it forecast annual profit below analysts’ estimates.
Discount retailer Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), apparel retailers Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) and PC makers Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) Inc and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) are all set to report their quarterly results on Thursday.
Investors will closely watch the Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report, due at 08:30 a.m. ET, ahead of the Fed’s economic symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday, for clues on the timing of the paring of its bond purchases program.
Strategists have projected the benchmark S&P 500 to end the year at 4,500 points, essentially unchanged, expecting the economic recovery as well as earnings growth to lose momentum amid a spike in coronavirus cases and a wind-down of stimulus.
The Bank of Korea raised its policy rate off a record low on Thursday – the first central bank of a major Asian economy to do so – in a transition away from pandemic-era stimulus.
A report is likely to show the U.S. economy grew faster in the second quarter than initially thought, as massive fiscal stimulus and vaccinations against COVID-19 boosted spending.
At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 19 points, or 0.05%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 23.75 points, or 0.15%.
NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) added 3.3% as brokerages raised their price targets on the cloud data services provider’s stock following upbeat first quarter result and better-than expected 2022 earnings outlook.
Among other stocks, oil majors Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) and Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) fell 0.5% each, tracking crude prices lower.
Mega-cap technology stocks Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc slipped between 0.1% and 0.4%.
