Stocks rallied across the board as Jerome Powell signaled a slowdown in the pace of tightening as early as December, while indicating more hikes to fight inflation. Bond yields slumped with the dollar. Amid all the optimism, the S&P 500 hit a two-month high, notching the longest monthly winning streak since August 2021. The gauge also breached its 200-day moving average: a threshold seen by some analysts as heralding more gains. The Nasdaq 100 jumped about 4.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 20% from its September low -- meeting the bull-market definition.
Bond traders dialed back their expectations for how high they think the Fed might need to push its benchmark, with swap markets suggesting the key overnight rate might peak below 5%. Powell’s comments likely cement expectations for the Fed to hike by 50 basis points in December, following four straight 75 basis-point moves. Though he also noted that rates are likely to reach a “somewhat higher” level than officials estimated in September. US After Hours OKTA +13.1%, PVH +10.5%, FIVE +8.9%, SPLK +7.9%, SNPS +6% higher on earnings; GIII -22.8%, ESTC -15.6%, CRM -6.6%, SNOW -5.4% lower on earnings; OFIX +7.3% receives competing takeover bid.
Nikkei +1.13% Hang Seng +1.41% CSI +1.28% Shanghai +0.64% Shenzen +1.31%
Eur$ 1.0444 CNH 7.0561 CNY 7.0639 JPY 136.36 GBP 1.2100 CHF 0.9429 RUB 60.8167 TRY 18.6337 WTI$ 80.37 -0.22% Gold 1,780 +0.64% BTC 17,142 +0.22% ETH 1,285 -0.88%
S&P +0.15% Nasdaq +0.11% EuroStoxx +1.00% FTSE +0.25% Dax +1.00% SMI +0.38%
Macro :
- EU’s Breton Warns Musk Twitter Faces Ban Over Moderation: FT
- Kolanovic Sees Stocks Retesting Lows by End of the First Quarter
- FTSE MIB Index Review Results in No New Inclusions Or Exclusions
- Chinese Stocks Listed in US Add $205 Billion in Historic Month
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
- ABDN LN : Abrdn, Beazley, Weir Group to Be Added to FTSE 100 Index
- ADE NO : Adevinta Offering of Shares by Schibsted Prices at NOK70/Share
- BE ZLN : Abrdn, Beazley, Weir Group to Be Added to FTSE 100 Index
- BOSS GY : Calvin Klein Owner PVH Climbs After Boosting Year Outlook
- CBRN NA : Corbion Raises Mid-Term Organic Net Sales Growth Target
- DOF NO : DOF Gets Further Extension of Standstill Pact With Bondholders
- EXO NA : Agnellis’ Exor Has €6.5b Cash Firepower, Elkann Says
- GE US : GE to Buy Back About $7.2b Principal Amount of Debt Dec. 2
- HEIA NA : Heineken's Input-Cost Pressure Jeopardizes Cost Savings: React
- IBE SM : Iberdrola Finanzas Places €450M of Equity-Linked Green Bonds
- IBS PL : Ibersol 9M Sales EU398.6M Vs. EU241.7M Y/y
- ISP IM : Intesa CEO Messina Says Euro-Area Inflation Has Peaked: Stampa
- JUVE IM : Juventus Denies Any Accounting Wrongdoing
- LKOH RM : Lukoil Resumes Talks With Crossbridge to Sell Italy Refinery: FT
- MMB FP : EU Opens In-Depth Probe of Vivendi-Lagardère Deal
- ROG SW : Roche’s Failed Alzheimer’s Drug Cleared Less Amyloid Than Hoped
- ROG SW : Lilly Drug Removes Bad Alzheimer’s Protein in Six Months
- SHL GY : GE Healthcare to Begin Trading on Nasdaq on Jan. 4
- S30 FP : Solutions 30 Preparing Proposal to Buy Scopelec’s Assets
- TIT IM : Italy Government Rules Out Full Takeover of Telecom Italia
- TIT IM : Italy Government Rules Out Full Takeover of Telecom Italia
- TIT IM : Italy’s Butti Clarifies ‘For Now’ No Full Tel Italia Takeover
- TWTR US : Musk: Apple Never Considered Removing Twitter From App Store
- VLA FP : Valneva, Pfizer: Six-Month Antibody Persistence for Lyme Vaccine
- VIE FP : Veolia Sells EU920m Assets in Suez Deal in Compliance with EC
- VIV FP : EU Opens In-Depth Probe of Vivendi-Lagardère Deal
- WEIR LN : Abrdn, Beazley, Weir Group to Be Added to FTSE 100 Index
>>> Up
* Essity Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 280 kronor
* L'Oreal Raised to Neutral at Citi; PT 365 euros
* SGS Raised to Buy at Citi; PT 2,509 Swiss francs
* S Immo Raised to Accumulate at SRC Research; PT 18 euros
* S Immo Raised to Accumulate at SRC Research; PT 18 euros
* Vantage Towers Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 32 euros
>>> Down
* Atlas Copco Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 130 kronor
>>> Down
* Atlas Copco Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 130 kronor
* Campari Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 11 euros
* Cofinimmo Cut to Underweight at Barclays; PT 80 euros
* Eni Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 15.50 euros
* Equinor Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 404 kroner
* Epiroc Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 190 kronor
* Epiroc Cut to Hold at HSBC; PT 190 kronor
* Givaudan Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 2,840 Swiss francs
* L'Oreal Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 350 euros
* Otis Worldwide Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT $80
* Pearson Cut to Neutral at Exane
* Remy Cointreau Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 145 euros
* UPS Cut to Underperform at Exane; PT $161
* Wartsila Cut to Sector Perform at RBC; PT 8.50 euros
* Wolters Kluwer Cut to Underperform at Exane
>>> Initiation
* IDS Rated New Outperform at Exane; PT 310 pence
* Vidrala Rated New Underperform at Jefferies; PT 59 euros
>>> Call
* Vidrala Rated New Underperform at Jefferies; PT 59 euros
>>> Call
* IDS New Outperform at Exane, Has Levers to Alleviate Concerns
* JPMorgan Tweaks Consumer Staples Ratings, Downgrades Four Stocks
* Cellnex Upgraded as UBS Calls Pivot ‘Conveniently Necessary’
* L’Oreal Upgraded at Citi on Better Earnings Protection for 2023
* Vidrala New Underperform at Jefferies on Lower Profitability
* Wartsila Cut at RBC Amid Difficult Production Exit in Trieste
The green tech tussle where America has cash and Europe has rules
EU governments see US clean energy subsidies as a threat, not an opportunity
There’s nothing to liven things up like a good old transatlantic trade war, or at least some warlike words about trade. Throw in a global energy shock and a geopolitical clash of superpowers, and local requirements for tax credits for electric vehicles have never been such a crucible of conflict.
In some of the more hot-headed quarters of the EU, the dispute with Washington has metastasised into resentment over US companies charging Europe higher energy prices, thus adding to European industry’s incentives to move to America. French president Emmanuel Macron will have a chance to make this point during his state visit to the US this week.
The energy price accusations are generally illogical or overblown, and the electric vehicle issue is reasonably easy to fix. The bigger issue is President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, setting the US down a path of heavy subsidies that the EU will struggle to follow and which is imperfectly fenced in by weak trade law.
First, the idea of Washington consciously creating an energy cost differential with the EU that poaches European investment is a big stretch. The US doesn’t control its energy companies’ pricing, and it is hardly its fault that the EU left itself so dependent on piped Russian gas. There’s a dark irony here: in 2018, the EU gulled Donald Trump into dropping a plan to impose tariffs on European cars with specious promises of importing American liquefied natural gas. Had those pledges been real rather than tactical, Europe would now be in a better place.
On the electric cars issue, the tax credits attract outsized attention because as consumer subsidies dependent on local production, they’re so obviously against World Trade Organization law. However, there’s also considerable wriggle room for the complainants — the EU, Japan and South Korea — to avoid discrimination. Those three were never realistically going to get their car exports access to the tax credit, but as the Financial Times has reported, the legislation can be tweaked by smart lobbying. In the last instance, if affected companies have their own manufacturing operations in the US, they can lobby local senators and congressmen to ask the administration for exemptions for exports from their home base.
And as for the US poaching investment from Europe — Simon Evenett of the monitoring service Global Trade Alert notes that inward flows of foreign direct investment reward regulatory stability more than tax incentives.
More worrying for the EU are the handouts in other parts of the act, such as subsidies for production of clean hydrogen. These are harder to get public opinion riled up about. Hydrogen isn’t as symbolic as cars, and the subsidies only contravene WTO rules if they can be proved to damage European producers.
Underlying this tension is a fundamental difference in approach and competencies. Crudely speaking, the EU has rules and the US has cash. Europe’s approach to decarbonisation was initially to change relative prices through its emissions trading scheme, now buttressed by a planned carbon border adjustment mechanism painstakingly drafted to adhere to WTO rules. Having failed to create its own cap-and-trade scheme, the US has gone instead for shovelling out hundreds of billions in subsidies and incentives without caring overmuch about trade law.
The two trade behemoths also have contrasting priorities. The US is focused on besting China and as such regards green investment as an issue of overwhelming national security importance, the same attitude that animates its export controls on semiconductors. The EU is more concerned with decarbonising its economy and trying to catch up in green technology.
True, the EU has its own green investment funds, but they don’t match those of the US for direct production subsidies. Moreover, having been hit much harder by the energy shock, the EU has other worries. The think-tank Bruegel estimates EU governments have announced a total of €600bn in payments to consumers to cushion them from energy price rises, more than the entire US spending on energy and climate change in the IRA.
Unless the EU manages to come up with hundreds of billions more for investment, there’s no neat and amicable conclusion to the transatlantic tension over cash versus rules. It’s likely to be something that needs to be managed rather than resolved. It’s certainly better than no money being spent on green technology and no prices being imposed on carbon at all, but having one trade superpower focusing on each is surely not the best way of doing it.
Jeffrey Epstein Estate Settles Suit Brought by U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General
Estate will pay $105 million and half of the proceeds from the sale of one of the disgraced financier’s private islands
The estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday settled a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands that accused the disgraced financier of trafficking and sexually abusing girls and young women on his private island in the Caribbean.
U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George said in a statement that, under the settlement’s terms, the estate agreed to pay the Virgin Islands government $105 million, as well as one half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James, one of Epstein’s private islands. The estate also agreed to pay $450,000 to remediate environmental damage around Great St. James, another Epstein-owned island, Ms. George said.
The estate has a year to meet the obligations, according to the settlement.
“We are sending a clear message that the Virgin Islands will not serve as a haven for human trafficking,” Ms. George said.
Daniel Weiner, a lawyer for one of the executors of Epstein’s estate, said the settlement was in the best interests of the estate to avoid the time and expense of litigation.
“The settlement does not include any admission or concession of liability or fault by the estate or any other parties,” Mr. Weiner said. The executors, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, also deny any allegations of wrongdoing, he said.
Epstein died by suicide in a jail in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had alleged that from 2002 through 2005, Epstein exploited and abused dozens of underage girls in places including New York and Palm Beach, Fla. They said he worked with his employees and associates to recruit underage girls, in addition to paying the girls themselves to recruit other victims.
As part of a separate investigation, Ms. George filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Epstein’s estate and Messrs. Indyke and Kahn in 2020. From 2001 through at least 2018, Epstein trafficked and sexually abused young women and girls on his private islands in the Virgin Islands, the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit also accused Messrs. Indyke and Kahn of aiding Epstein in his alleged crimes. The two men authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to victims and recruiters from bank accounts tied to Epstein’s holding companies and foundations, the suit alleged.
Separately, federal prosecutors in 2020 charged Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and longtime confidante of the disgraced financier, with facilitating Epstein’s sexual abuse. After a trial in late 2021, Ms. Maxwell was found guilty of five of six criminal counts. The judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison.
Ms. Maxwell is appealing her conviction. Her lawyers have argued that she was a scapegoat for Epstein.
Elon Musk Says Neuralink Should Be Ready For Human Testing in Six Months
Neuroscience startup also showcases ‘telepathic typing’ in monkey with brain implant, other capabilities in live-streamed update
Elon Musk ‘s startup Neuralink Corp. should be ready to test its technology on humans in six months, the entrepreneur said Wednesday during a live-streamed update about progress the company has made with its brain-implant technology.
Neuralink has submitted most of its paperwork to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees medical devices, including neural implants, Mr. Musk said. In 2019, he said the company planned to seek the FDA’s approval for human testing and predicted it could begin as soon as 2020.
“We are now confident that the Neuralink device is ready for humans, so timing is a function of working through the FDA approval process,” Mr. Musk said in a tweet during the event.
During a question-and-answer session, the company said it was working to address concerns from the FDA regarding overheating of the device and also toxic chemicals seeping into the brain from the implant, both of which could cause damage.
Mr. Musk said the implants are compact and that he would feel comfortable getting one now. He teased the possibility that he will eventually have an implant for a future demonstration.
“I could have a Neuralink device implanted right now and you wouldn’t even know, hypothetically,” he said.
The company wants to be able to help restore vision and enable people with severe disabilities to move and communicate by decoding brain activity. Eventually, Neuralink wants to open clinics where patients could get a device implanted into their brains by their surgical robots, which the company also showcased at the Wednesday event. The robot surgeon threads Neuralink’s tiny proprietary electrodes, or brain-signal recording wires, into the brain.
Mr. Musk showed a video of “telepathic typing” from a monkey that has a Neuralink brain implant. The animal wasn’t typing into a keyboard but was able to move a cursor to images of letters.
“He’s moving the cursor with his mind,” he said. “He can’t actually spell. I don’t want to oversell this thing.”
Neuralink has been testing its implant technology on nonhuman primates for several years, including in April 2021, when the company released a video showing that a monkey implanted with two Neuralink devices could play a videogame called Pong as the device translated its brain activity into commands with the help of machine-learning software.
Clinical testing that proves an implantable device is safe and effective long-term would be necessary before a brain-computer interface, like Neuralink’s, could be widely rolled out to patients, neurotechnology experts said.
“That’s a big challenge,” said Sumner Norman, chief neuroscientist at AE Studio, a development agency with a dedicated team of brain-computer interface engineers.
In the past year, Neuralink has been challenged with safety concerns after several of its monkeys had to be euthanized, including for suspected device-associated infections. It is standard practice in pharmaceutical and medical-device development to do preclinical testing on animals.
“We’re not cavalier about putting devices into animals,” Mr. Musk said Wednesday.
Other researchers have managed to use a brain-computer interface to enable monkeys to produce words on a computer screen.
Last year, University of California, San Francisco, researchers used an experimental brain implant to translate a patient’s brain signals into words on a screen. Synchron Inc., a neurotech company developing a brain implant that is threaded into the brain’s blood vessels instead of interacting with brain tissue itself, has allowed five patients to type, according to Tom Oxley, the company’s chief executive.
Advancements in artificial intelligence, the miniaturization of electronics and new surgical techniques have sparked a flurry of investment and development into brain-computer interfaces, according to Michael Mager, chief executive of Precision Neuroscience Corp., which is working on a film-like sensor that sits on top of the brain and is inserted through a tiny slit in the skull.
Researchers said it is unlikely that Neuralink had already begun testing devices with human brains.
Neuralink doesn’t yet have any clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, a U.S. federal database of continuing studies that can range from a few to potentially hundreds of human participants, depending on the stage and scope of the trial. Typically, companies start with a few patients to assess safety.
Several companies are going after restoring sight, including Neuralink.
Science Corp.—founded by Max Hodak, formerly president of Neuralink—aims to use a combination of gene therapy, a thin retinal implant and smart glasses to help restore vision. Blackrock Neurotech recently announced it was developing an ultrathin, flexible implant called Neuralace for that same purpose, according to Florian Solzbacher, the company’s co-founder and president.
The technology would take electrodes, often called channels, and deliver into the visual system thousands of pulses of electricity to create the perception of seeing objects, Dr. Solzbacher said.
“For that, you need thousands of channels, and the more the better,” Dr. Solzbacher said.
So far, researchers have been able to re-create the perception of edges and other simple shapes—basically the equivalent of an electronic walking stick, Dr. Solzbacher added—but nothing that approximates what we would interpret as full vision. He said he hoped the device would be available to researchers in 2024.
“The challenge is building something that is both high-channel count and can last for a long time in the body,” said Matt Angle, CEO of neurotech firm Paradromics Inc.
Most neural implants to date have been one-way highways of information, taking signals the brain generates and translating them into commands that an external device like a computer can then use to “type” or play videogames.
But developers hope the next generation of devices will be able to shuttle information into and out of the brain, for instance, to restore our senses and help with movement. Mr. Musk made several references to this “read and write” capability Wednesday.
Precision Neuroscience is working on a device that can both record from the brain and send signals into it. In January, the company said its implant could record from and stimulate areas of the brain involved in vision and the perception of touch.
During the presentation, Neuralink said it had implanted its device into the visual cortex of two monkeys already and used it to record brain activity and to create the perception of seeing tiny spots of light.
The ability of neural implants to “create the perception of touch or vision—that would be a huge win,” said Dr. Norman of AE Studio.
These next-generation devices augment some of the ethical concerns about brain implants. Some have called them the last frontier of human privacy.
“People identify their sense of self most closely with their brains,” said Nita Farahany, a Duke University neuroethicist. “Writing to the brain has the great peril to manipule and override our choices and preferences.”
After Hours Summary: OKTA +13.1%, PVH +10.5%, FIVE +8.9%, SPLK +7.9%, SNPS +6% higher on earnings; GIII -22.8%, ESTC -15.6%, CRM -6.6%, SNOW -5.4% lower on earnings; OFIX +7.3% receives competing takeover bidAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: OKTA +13.1%, PVH +10.5% (also extends license agreements with GIII), FIVE +8.9%, SPLK +7.9%, SNPS +6%, YEXT +2.4%, PSTG +2.1%, NTNX +0.8%
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: OFIX +7.3% (receives competing takeover bid from private equity), RGR +5.5% (declares special dividend of $5.00/sh), INVA +1.3% (FDA accepts Priority Review of NDA for Sulbactam-Durlobactam), EDAP +0.7% (French authorities approve co's plans to initiate a Phase 3 trial on HIFU), GE +0.6% (board approves previously announced spin-off of its healthcare business), RTX +0.3% (awarded a $1.22 bln US Army contract), USPH +0.2% (acquires 13-clinic physical therapy practice), AMZN +0.2% (WBD to partner with Amazon Studios to create new animated projects based on DC Comics, according to TheVerge), AEL +0.1% (files for 15,886,163 share offering by selling shareholders ), BA +0.1% (awarded options to its US Air Force contract for $235 mln)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: GIII -22.8% (also extends license agreements with PVH), ESTC -15.6% (also announces workforce reduction), CRM -6.6% (also Bret Taylor will step down as Vice Chair and Co-CEO on Jan 31; Marc Benioff will be Chair and CEO), SNOW -5.4%, OGS -3.9% (issues downside FY23 EPS guidance), SMTC -2.4%, VSCO -2.1%, LZB -1.7% (also increases dividend by 10%), NCNO -0.9% (also Bank of New Zealand selects nCino Bank Operating System), BOX -0.7%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: SHLS -10.3% (CEO to step down for health reasons; also launches 20 mln share offering; also files mixed securities shelf offering), FREY -9.8% (stock offering), CTO -5.4% (commences 2.5 mln share offering), NTLA -4.9% (commences $250 mln stock offering), COST -3.2% (reports Nov comps), ISEE -2.7% (commences $250 mln stock offering), FANG -2% (files for 5,920,818 share offering by selling shareholders), LMND -1.5% (stock offering), AUPH -0.6% (UK grants Great Britain marketing authorization of LUPKYNIS), WW -0.5% (CFO to step down), JNJ -0.5% (CEO also to become Chairman), BY -0.4% (to merge with Inland Bancorp), LLY -0.2% (donanemab met all primary and secondary endpoints in Phase 3 study)
Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market closed out November on a decidedly upbeat note. The main indices all logged big gains today and the S&P 500 was able to break above a key technical level, its 200-day moving average at 4,050. Market participants were reacting, or possibly overreacting, to the speech from Fed Chair Powell at 1:30 p.m. ET.
In front of Mr. Powell's remarks, the main indices were meandering around their flat lines until comments from Amazon.com (AMZN 96.54, +4.12, +4.5%) CEO Andrew Jassy precipitated a modest decline. He said at the DealBook Summit that "people are very much hunting for bargains" and noting that the economy is "a lot more uncertain" than previously thought. This played into the market's concerns that the Fed is going to raise rates too much and create a hard landing for the economy.
The tone of the market changed completely, however, with the release of Mr. Powell's speech. The market predominately reacted to the following key excerpt:
"Monetary policy affects the economy and inflation with uncertain lags, and the full effects of our rapid tightening so far are yet to be felt. Thus, it makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting."
The market rally that started mid-October was partially predicated on the notion that the Fed was apt to slow down the pace of rate hikes starting in December, which Mr. Powell's remarks corroborated. The fed funds futures market now prices in a 74.7% probability of a 50-basis point increase at the December meeting versus a 66.3% probability yesterday, according to the CME FedWatchTool.
Just about everything reversed course following the speech. Equities rallied, aided by short-covering activity, the U.S. Dollar Index fell, and buying picked up in the Treasury market. The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.7% to 106.04. The 2-yr note yield fell nine basis points to 4.38% and the 10-yr note yield fell five basis points to 3.70%.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory with gains ranging from 0.6% (energy) to 5.0% (information technology). Advancers led decliners by a greater than 6-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a greater than 3-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.
Despite today's big rally, general growth concerns continue to fester. Market participants had a slate of economic data to digest, some of which piled onto the market's slowdown concerns.
The Chicago PMI reading for November (37.2) was particularly ugly looking, falling further into contractionary territory (i.e. sub-50 reading) than the market was expecting. China also reported weaker-than-expected Manufacturing PMI (48.0) and Non-Manufacturing PMI (46.7) readings that fell further into contraction territory.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -4.7% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: -9.3% YTD
- Russell 2000: -16.0% YTD
- S&P 500: -14.4% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: -26.7% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index fell 0.8% compared to last week with purchase applications rising 4% while refinancing applications fell 13%.
- Advanced report for international trade in goods reflected a $99.0 billion deficit in October following a revised $91.9 billion deficit in September (from $92.2 billion). The advanced report for retail inventories fell 0.2% in October after a revised 0.1% decline in September (from +0.4%). The advanced report for wholesale inventories showed a 0.8% build in October after a revised 0.6% build in September (from 0.8%).
- Q3 GDP was revised up to 2.9% from the advance estimate of 2.6%. The GDP Price Deflator was also revised up to 4.3% (Briefing.com consensus 4.1%) from the advance estimate of 4.1%.
- The key takeaway from the report is that growth was better than expected and inflation was higher than first thought.
- November Chicago PMI fell further into contractionary territory (i.e. sub-50 reading) with a reading of 37.2 in November (consensus 47.5) following a reading of 45.2 in October.
- JOLTS Job Openings totaled 10.334 million in October following a revised 10.687 million total in September (10.717 million).
- Pending home sales fell 4.6% in October ( consensus -5.2%) following a revised 8.7% decline in September (from -10.2%).
- Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories showed a draw of 12.58 million barrels following last week's 3.69 million barrel draw.
Big Lots (BIG), Dollar General (DG), and Kroger (KR) are some of the companies reporting earnings ahead of Thursday's open.
Market participants will receive the following economic data Thursday:
- 8:30 a.m. ET: Weekly initial jobless claims ( consensus 238,000; prior 240,000) and continuing claims (prior 1.551K)
- 8:30 a.m. ET: October Personal Income ( consensus 0.4%; prior 0.4%), Personal Spending ( consensus 0.8%; prior 0.6%), PCE Price Index ( consensus 0.4%; prior 0.3%), core PCE Price Index ( consensus 0.2%; prior 0.5%)
- 10:00 a.m. ET: November ISM Manufacturing Index (consensus 49.8%; prior 50.2%)
- 10:00 a.m. ET: October Construction Spending ( consensus -0.2%; prior +0.2%)
- 10:30 a.m. ET: Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories (prior -80 bcf)