Market Watch: Dow futures contract experienced a 0.9% drop, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures experienced a 0.5% and 0.6% drop respectively.
U.S. futures drop amid weak Treasury sales and Federal Reserve interest rate concerns. Salesforce shares drop, and activist investor Nelson Peltz liquidates Disney stake.
Salesforce weak Earnings
Salesforce shares fell by over 16% after the company’s second-quarter forecast fell short of analysts’ expectations. The outlook was impacted by weak client spending on its business-oriented products and services, denting optimism about its plan to use generative artificial intelligence. Salesforce projected adjusted per-share earnings between $1.31 and $1.33 on revenue between $9.20 billion and $9.25 billion. HP Inc’s second-quarter sales beat estimates, indicating improving market strength.
Peltz liquidates Disney stake
Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Walt Disney Company, raising around $1 billion. The sale occurred after Peltz’s investment firm, Trian Partners, lost a proxy battle at a Disney shareholder meeting. Peltz has been critical of Disney’s governance, particularly its streaming service strategy and succession plans for CEO Bob Iger.
UBS reshuffles leadership team
Swiss lender UBS has reshuffled its executive board and divided wealth management responsibility between two likely successors to current CEO Sergio Ermotti. Wealth management boss Iqbal Khan and investment bank head Rob Karofsky will become co-presidents of the wealth management unit. The bank is seeking internal candidates to replace Ermotti after his expected retirement in 2027. The top-level shake-up will also see the departure of Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner and UBS Americas head Naureen Hassan.
Economic Calendar
- 8:30 GDP
- 8:30 International Trade in Goods (Advance)
- 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
- 8:30 Corporate Profits
- 8:30 Retail Inventories (Advance)
- 8:30 Wholesale Inventories (Advance)
- 10:00 Pending Home Sales
- 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
- 11:00 EIA Petroleum Inventories
- 12:05 PM Fed’s Williams Speech
- 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
- 5:00 PM Fed’s Logan Speech
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Recent data indicating a possible cooling in the U.S. economy have alleviated some persistent inflation concerns, fueling hopes that the Federal Reserve will start to bring interest rates down from more than two-decade highs as soon as September. Along with the Dow, the benchmark and tech-heavytouched record marks last week.
The durability of the strength on Wall Street will likely be tested by a fresh batch of corporate results this week, including quarterly returns from artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (see below). Durable goods and consumer sentiment data will also be in focus as markets hunt for more evidence that growth is moderating enough to give the Fed justification for rolling out rate cuts this year.
Recent data indicating a possible cooling in the U.S. economy have alleviated some persistent inflation concerns, fueling hopes that the Federal Reserve will start to bring interest rates down from more than two-decade highs as soon as September. Along with the Dow,
The durability of the strength on Wall Street will likely be tested by a fresh batch of corporate results this week, including quarterly returns from artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (see below). Durable goods and consumer sentiment data will also be in focus as markets hunt for more evidence that growth is moderating enough to give the Fed justification for rolling out rate cuts this year.
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MFitch Ratings has downgraded China’s credit rating outlook to “Negative” from “Stable” due to concerns over growing public debt and slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The agency affirmed China’s rating at A+, citing increasing risks to China’s public finance outlook. Concerns over slowing economic growth have grown in recent months, with Fitch expecting gross domestic product growth to fall to 4.5% in 2024.
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U.S. inflation data for February is expected to provide insights into the future direction of Federal Reserve monetary policy. The overall consumer price index (CPI) is expected to match the previous month’s pace of 3.1% annually, with the core CPI expected to slow to 3.7% from 3.9% in January. However, the month-on-month gauge is expected to shed light on price gains momentum.
Fed officials have made cooling inflation the main objective of interest rate hikes, which have brought borrowing costs to over two-decade highs. They suggest cuts may be coming later this year, but need more evidence that price growth is sustainablely easing back down to their 2% annualized target. Analysts at ING believe inflation is likely too hot for comfort.
U.S. inflation data for February is expected to provide insights into the future direction of Federal Reserve monetary policy. The overall consumer price index (CPI) is expected to match the previous month’s pace of 3.1% annually, with the core CPI expected to slow to 3.7% from 3.9% in January. However, the month-on-month gauge is expected to shed light on price gains momentum.
Fed officials have made cooling inflation the main objective of interest rate hikes, which have brought borrowing costs to over two-decade highs. They suggest cuts may be coming later this year, but need more evidence that price growth is sustainablely easing back down to their 2% annualized target. Analysts at ING believe inflation is likely too hot for comfort.