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Fed Stays Firmly on Fence re Future Rate Hikes; Walmart Beats in Q1
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There is a decent amount of data out this morning with the potential of moving markets. So far this week, we’re in the green across the board, though we’re mixed in today’s pre-market — both prior to and directly after the data has hit the tape. The Dow is -30 points at this hour, while the S&P 500 is +2 and the Nasdaq is +15 points.
Initial Jobless Claims came in lower than expected: 242K versus 255K consensus, which follows the previous week’s unrevised 264K, which reached the highest level of new claims since October 2021. The low mark of this cycle came way back in the last week of February: 221K, so consider today’s print halfway in between. On the one hand, it’s a relief we’re not seeing joblessness skyrocket; on the other, the resilient labor market is going to keep the Fd on the fence regarding future interest rate hikes.
Continuing Claims slipped to below 1.8 million for the first time since the first time in 10 weeks, though just barely: 1.799 million on headline, below the downwardly revised 1.807 million the previous week. As longer-term jobless claims are reported a week behind new claims, we may see continued slack on the Initial Claims data in the next week or so. Regardless, we’re again not seeing this granular unemployment metric signaling anything bad for the overall labor market.
Philly Fed for May, on the other hand, stayed in negative territory for its ninth straight month, and 11 out of 12 months. Although the headline -10.4 this morning is better than the -20 expected and the -31.3 reported for April (which constituted a three-year low), it still shows signs of lagging productivity output from the sixth largest city in the U.S. Earlier this week, Empire State data was also on the weak side. This would check the column for a Fed pause.
THIS JUST IN: Dallas Fed President Lori Logan has just reported that she does not see justification for skipping a rate hike at the Fed’s June meeting based on economic data out thus far. “As of today, we’re just not there yet.” Logan is a voting member, so take this into account. Pre-market trading certainly has: the Dow is currently down -100 points, the S&P 500 -8 and the Nasdaq -10 points a half hour before the opening bell. Bond yields are rising: the 2 year is now back up to 4.25% and the 10-year is 3.63%.
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) posted good Q1 results this morning, outpacing estimates on its bottom line — $1.47 per share versus $1.32 expected, for an +11.4% beat — and +1.67% on its top line to $152.3 billion. Its groceries businesses performed well, but the real takeaway was its strength in e-commerce, +26%. This compares quite favorably to direct competitor Target (TGT - Free Report) having reported a -3% loss on e-commerce. Walmart was cautious on current quarter guidance, however, which is perhaps why we’re only seeing a +1.6% gain in share price in early-morning trading. For more on WMT’s earnings, click here.
Image: Bigstock
Fed Stays Firmly on Fence re Future Rate Hikes; Walmart Beats in Q1
There is a decent amount of data out this morning with the potential of moving markets. So far this week, we’re in the green across the board, though we’re mixed in today’s pre-market — both prior to and directly after the data has hit the tape. The Dow is -30 points at this hour, while the S&P 500 is +2 and the Nasdaq is +15 points.
Initial Jobless Claims came in lower than expected: 242K versus 255K consensus, which follows the previous week’s unrevised 264K, which reached the highest level of new claims since October 2021. The low mark of this cycle came way back in the last week of February: 221K, so consider today’s print halfway in between. On the one hand, it’s a relief we’re not seeing joblessness skyrocket; on the other, the resilient labor market is going to keep the Fd on the fence regarding future interest rate hikes.
Continuing Claims slipped to below 1.8 million for the first time since the first time in 10 weeks, though just barely: 1.799 million on headline, below the downwardly revised 1.807 million the previous week. As longer-term jobless claims are reported a week behind new claims, we may see continued slack on the Initial Claims data in the next week or so. Regardless, we’re again not seeing this granular unemployment metric signaling anything bad for the overall labor market.
Philly Fed for May, on the other hand, stayed in negative territory for its ninth straight month, and 11 out of 12 months. Although the headline -10.4 this morning is better than the -20 expected and the -31.3 reported for April (which constituted a three-year low), it still shows signs of lagging productivity output from the sixth largest city in the U.S. Earlier this week, Empire State data was also on the weak side. This would check the column for a Fed pause.
THIS JUST IN: Dallas Fed President Lori Logan has just reported that she does not see justification for skipping a rate hike at the Fed’s June meeting based on economic data out thus far. “As of today, we’re just not there yet.” Logan is a voting member, so take this into account. Pre-market trading certainly has: the Dow is currently down -100 points, the S&P 500 -8 and the Nasdaq -10 points a half hour before the opening bell. Bond yields are rising: the 2 year is now back up to 4.25% and the 10-year is 3.63%.
Walmart (WMT - Free Report) posted good Q1 results this morning, outpacing estimates on its bottom line — $1.47 per share versus $1.32 expected, for an +11.4% beat — and +1.67% on its top line to $152.3 billion. Its groceries businesses performed well, but the real takeaway was its strength in e-commerce, +26%. This compares quite favorably to direct competitor Target (TGT - Free Report) having reported a -3% loss on e-commerce. Walmart was cautious on current quarter guidance, however, which is perhaps why we’re only seeing a +1.6% gain in share price in early-morning trading. For more on WMT’s earnings, click here.
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