Stocks Futures Cool Off Before Jobs Data, Fed Speech – Schaeffer’s Investment Research

Dow futures are down triple digits

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are down triple digits this morning, while Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are also firmly in the red. Now just past the halfway mark of 2024, investors are debating whether or not recent market strength will continue for the rest of the year. For today, Wall Street awaits the release of the May job openings and labor turnover report, as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech before the European Central Bank (ECB) Forum.

Continue reading for more on today’s market, including: 

• Senior Market Strategist Matthew Timpane sets the stage for July as short interest builds.
• These 2 oil stocks could underperform this month.
• Plus, CRWD downgraded; Paramount merger buzz; and Lennar stock stumbles.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts and 861,900 put contracts traded on Monday. The single-session equity put/call fell to 0.56, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.67.
2. Piper Sandler downgraded Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) stock to “neutral” from “overweight,” noting to the cybersecurity company’s high valuation. Shares are down 2.4% ahead of the open, but sport a 53.5% year-to-date lead.
3. Media and entertainment giant Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) is reportedly holding merger talks with several companies, including Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). The stock is up 3.8% before the bell but is down 31.4% this year.
4. Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) stock was last seen down 2.8% in premarket trading, after a downgrade from Citigroup to “neutral” from “buy” due to its risk/reward ratio. LEN rose 16.5% over the last nine months, but is now trading below its year-to-date breakeven.
5. Plenty of economic data due out this holiday-shortened week.

Nikkei Clears 40k Despite Weakening Yen

Markets in Asia finished mostly higher, with the Japanese yen extending its stay at 38-year lows. Despite the currency freefall, the Nikkei in Japan closed up 1.1%, back above the round 40,000 and scoring three-month highs. South Korea’s inflation rate for June came in at 2.4%, below the 2.7% estimates and sending the region’s Kospi down 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite settled up 0.3% and 0.08%, respectively.

Across the pond, all eyes are on euro zone inflation data, which saw a drop to 2.5% in June and core and services inflation manage to hold at 2.9%. In the U.K., British Retail Consortium year-over-year inflation shop price slid to 0.2% in June. In Germany, the Ifo Institute slightly “deteriorated” last month. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.5%, Germany’s DAX is off 1.1%, and France’s CAC 40 is 0.9% lower.