An trader works on the New York Stock Exchange's floor, New York, August 20, 2021.
U.S. stock futures were stable in overnight trading Wednesday after the rally of the S&P 500 that saw it cross the 4,500 mark for the first-ever time.
Dow futures increased 25 points. Futures on the S&P 500 gained 0.03%, while futures on the Nasdaq 100 were flat.
After reporting fiscal second quarter earnings and forward guidance that exceeded analysts’ estimates, Salesforce shares rose by 2% in extended trading. After-hours trading saw Ulta Beauty rise 6% on the back of strong results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 39 points on Wednesday. The record closing S&P 500 gain of 0.22% was led by stocks that are able to take advantage of the economic reopening, such as financials, airlines, and cruise lines. On Wednesday, the 500-stock average crossed over the 4,500 threshold but closed below it.
The Nasdaq Composite also rose by 0.15%, a record high.
Wednesday's rise in yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note to 1.352% was its highest since 1.364% earlier in the month.
Jim Paulsen (chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group) stated that "the 10-year Treasury bond yield continued rising in recent days, exploding higher in Wednesday's trading, sending a strong signal that the Delta variant Covid may be peaking" in the U.S., which should improve confidence and restart economic reopenings. This should drive investment flows towards small caps and cyclicals and boost investor confidence."
Thursday is the start of the highly anticipated Jackson Hole symposium. The event will feature updates from central bankers on their plans to taper monetary stimulus. In response to the pandemic, the Federal Reserve has been buying at least $120 million of bonds each month. On Friday, Chairman Jerome Powell will make remarks.
Paulsen stated that investors should keep an eye out for comments from the Fed at the Fed's Symposium the rest of the week regarding tapering and timing for interest rate increases. "A failure or success in scaling 4500 or unexpected comments from the Fed could cause additional volatility for the stock and bond market."
The jobless claim data for last week will be published at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. Dow Jones polled economists and found that 350,000 Americans applied for unemployment last week, as opposed to 348,000 the week before.
On Thursday, several companies will report their quarterly earnings, including Gap, HP, Dell Technologies and Abercrombie & Fitch.
