Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Flatline: What’s Driving Sentiment – ​​Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ), SPDR S&P 500 (ARCA:SPY)

Index futures trading points to a slightly positive start on Thursday, with some key Main Street data likely to guide the market. Sentiment could remain subdued as traders look ahead to the three-day Jackson Hole Symposium, which begins on Thursday, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell due to speak on Friday. Earnings news was mixed. With traders pricing in a September rate cut, the near-term catalyst is likely to be NVIDIA, Inc. NVDA The revenue is due next week.

“Step aside, Fed, it’s just Nvidia’s earnings on August 28th. The waiting is the hardest part,” said Gina Bolvin, Pbased at Bolvin Wealth Management Group.

In premarket trading on Thursday SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.16% to USD 561.50, and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ rose 0.18% to $483.38, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Notes from the last meeting:

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday’s session higher, rebounding from their decline in the previous session. Traders welcomed the dovish message from the July Federal Open Market Committee minutes and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual revision, which sharply revised down nonfarm payrolls.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 index remained mostly above the flat line, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively more volatile. All three closed significantly higher. Small caps outperformed the major indexes, with the Russell 2000 gaining 1.32%.

The S&P 500 is now approaching its all-time high of 5,667.20 reached on July 16, and the Nasdaq Composite closed at its highest level since July 17.

With the exception of energy and financials, most sectors of the S&P 500 ended the day higher, with consumer discretionary and basic materials stocks particularly strong.

Analyst insights:

In a report published before the BLS’s annual review, Lisa Schaefer Wall Street analysts’ current earnings forecasts are ambitious, predicting rising and double-digit growth rates for the next six quarters, even though margins are already close to record highs.

She said a decline in nominal GDP will hurt companies’ pricing power and profitability. In addition, gains from falling costs and the benefits of a strong US dollar could also evaporate. If companies cut staff in response and the number of job losses rises significantly, this could jeopardise the soft landing, she added.

The Carson Group Ryan Detrick noted that the S&P 500 index has now been above the 200-day moving average for more than 200 days. This has happened three times in the past and in those three cases, the index stayed above the 200-day moving average for an additional 277 days, 242 days and 195 days, he said. “If you are bearish because this is a long rally, be cautious,” he added.

Upcoming economic data

• The Labor Department is scheduled to release its weekly jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists expect jobless claims to average 230,000 for the week ending August 17, compared to 227,000 in the previous reporting week.
• S&P Global will release its preliminary manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indexes for August at 9:45 a.m. EDT. Consensus estimates call for the manufacturing PMI to decline to 49.5 in August from 49.6 in July, and the services PMI is expected to come in at 54 for August, down from 55 in July.
• The National Association of Realtors will release its existing home sales report for July at 10 a.m. EDT. Existing home sales are expected to have been a seasonally adjusted 3.94 million units in July, up from 3.89 million units in June.
• The Treasury Department will auction four- and eight-week bonds at 11:30 a.m. EDT and 30-year TIPS at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

See also: How to trade futures

Stocks in focus:

• Agilent Technologies, Inc. A rose over 2% in premarket trading following the announcement of the company’s quarterly results.
• Other stocks moving on earnings include Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN (decrease of over 10%), Snowflake Inc. SNOW )decrease of over 9%), Zuora, Inc. SUOO (plus 7.50%), Wolfspeed, Inc. WOLF (up 8%), Synopsys, Inc. SNPS (plus 2%) and Zoom Video Communications, Inc. CM (plus 3.50%).
• Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP, Google Inc. BIDU, Bilibili Inc. BIL, NetEase, Inc. NTES, BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ, Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ, Peloton Interactive, Inc. PTON And Williams Sonoma, Inc. WSM are among the well-known companies that publish their quarterly results before the stock market opens.
• People who report their earnings after the stock market close include BILL Holdings, Inc. INVOICE, CAVA Group, Inc. CAVA, Intuit Inc. INTU, Ross Stores, Inc. RUST And Microsoft, Inc. Wednesday.
• Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW slipped over 4% Toronto Dominion Bank TD sold shares in the company to prepare for possible $2.6 billion in fines from U.S. regulators.

Commodities, bonds and global stock markets:

Crude oil futures rose slightly, while gold futures continued to slide from their record highs. Bitcoin BTC/USD rose following the release of the FOMC minutes, approaching the $61,000 mark, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 4.2 basis points to 3.818%.

Asian markets experienced a mixed session, while European stocks were higher in early trading on Thursday.

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