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The Nasdaq closed at a new all-time high today. Gaining +122 points, +0.75%, brought the tech-heavy index up to 16,511 for the first time. It’s a record previously reached less than a month ago, but before that goes back to November 2021. The other major indices were positiver today, as well: the Dow grew +126 points, +0.32%, while the S&P 500 rose +0.48% and the small-cap Russell 2000 was +1.10%. Considering the challenges before the regular trading session, this demonstrates a bullish sentiment remaining in the market.
Ahead of today’s bell, we thought equities were in for a tough slog. When Producer Price Index (PPI) results came out hotter than expected for last month, pre-market futures sank into the red — inflation creep on the wholesale side depicted what was thought to be a challenging period. Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures get released Wednesday morning, with expectations for levels to come down year-over-year, on both headline and core. So bidding up the Nasdaq ahead of this — considering what happened on PPI today — looks like market participants are daring the CPI report to disappoint.
We also saw a Q1 miss for Home Depot (HD - Free Report) on its top line this morning. Softer quarterly revenues to $36.42 billion illustrated a home improvement market that’s cooled somewhat, even as earnings per share beat estimates by 2 cents, to $3.63 per share. But the company gave in-line full-year guidance, with estimates Gross Margins estimated to come in a hair below +34%. Shares did close down for the day, but only marginally. For more on HD’s earnings, click here.
Meme stocks continue to have a moment. Even though they are off their pre-market highs from this morning, Gamestop (GME - Free Report) rose +60% as of today’s close, SunPower (SPWR - Free Report) was up +59% and AMC (AMC - Free Report) +32%. A return of “Roaring Kitty” hitting market-based social media outlets over the weekend strongly suggested that a new round of “squeezing the shorts” was in the offing. Tough to know just what provoked this, although a buoyant market doesn’t hurt; you don’t tend to see social media short-squeezes when markets are tumbling.
Boot Barn (BOOT - Free Report) shares are -7% after its fiscal Q4 release after the close. The California-based specialty retailer topped expectations on both earnings and revenues for the quarter, with big expansion plans for fiscal 2025. And revenue guidance for both next quarter and the full year are above where the Zacks consensus had been. But next-quarter earnings are notably below previous estimates had been, with same-store sales declines continuing even as as many as 60 new stores are expected to open this year.
CPI data tomorrow remains key this week. April CPI is expected to tick up 10 basis points (bps) to +0.4% month over month, but down 10 bps to +3.4% year over year, aka the Inflation Rate. Core month-over-month (stripping out volatile food and energy prices) is expected to come down 10 bps to +0.3%, and -20 bps on year-over-year core CPI to +3.6%. This print had been as high as +6.6% back in September of 2022. So we’ve no doubt come as long way. Will we continue to reduce these inflation levels or are these flagging right now? Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>
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Nasdaq Closes at New Record High; CPI on Deck
Tuesday, May 14th, 2024
The Nasdaq closed at a new all-time high today. Gaining +122 points, +0.75%, brought the tech-heavy index up to 16,511 for the first time. It’s a record previously reached less than a month ago, but before that goes back to November 2021. The other major indices were positiver today, as well: the Dow grew +126 points, +0.32%, while the S&P 500 rose +0.48% and the small-cap Russell 2000 was +1.10%. Considering the challenges before the regular trading session, this demonstrates a bullish sentiment remaining in the market.
Ahead of today’s bell, we thought equities were in for a tough slog. When Producer Price Index (PPI) results came out hotter than expected for last month, pre-market futures sank into the red — inflation creep on the wholesale side depicted what was thought to be a challenging period. Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures get released Wednesday morning, with expectations for levels to come down year-over-year, on both headline and core. So bidding up the Nasdaq ahead of this — considering what happened on PPI today — looks like market participants are daring the CPI report to disappoint.
We also saw a Q1 miss for Home Depot (HD - Free Report) on its top line this morning. Softer quarterly revenues to $36.42 billion illustrated a home improvement market that’s cooled somewhat, even as earnings per share beat estimates by 2 cents, to $3.63 per share. But the company gave in-line full-year guidance, with estimates Gross Margins estimated to come in a hair below +34%. Shares did close down for the day, but only marginally. For more on HD’s earnings, click here.
Meme stocks continue to have a moment. Even though they are off their pre-market highs from this morning, Gamestop (GME - Free Report) rose +60% as of today’s close, SunPower (SPWR - Free Report) was up +59% and AMC (AMC - Free Report) +32%. A return of “Roaring Kitty” hitting market-based social media outlets over the weekend strongly suggested that a new round of “squeezing the shorts” was in the offing. Tough to know just what provoked this, although a buoyant market doesn’t hurt; you don’t tend to see social media short-squeezes when markets are tumbling.
Boot Barn (BOOT - Free Report) shares are -7% after its fiscal Q4 release after the close. The California-based specialty retailer topped expectations on both earnings and revenues for the quarter, with big expansion plans for fiscal 2025. And revenue guidance for both next quarter and the full year are above where the Zacks consensus had been. But next-quarter earnings are notably below previous estimates had been, with same-store sales declines continuing even as as many as 60 new stores are expected to open this year.
CPI data tomorrow remains key this week. April CPI is expected to tick up 10 basis points (bps) to +0.4% month over month, but down 10 bps to +3.4% year over year, aka the Inflation Rate. Core month-over-month (stripping out volatile food and energy prices) is expected to come down 10 bps to +0.3%, and -20 bps on year-over-year core CPI to +3.6%. This print had been as high as +6.6% back in September of 2022. So we’ve no doubt come as long way. Will we continue to reduce these inflation levels or are these flagging right now?
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>