OPENING CALL
Stock futures rallied early on Thursday with Nasdaq futures leading the charge following Nvidia's strong earnings.
Nvidia shares were up around 14% in premarket trading. Other semiconductor stocks also rallied following the report. Super Micro Computer rose 13%, Arm Holdings rose 9.9%, and Broadcom was up 4.4%.
Overseas Markets
European stocks were on course for a new record high for the first time in more than two years as the semiconductor sector got a fresh leg up from Nvidia's results.
Softbank's stock closed up around 5% in Japan, again boosted by Nvidia's earnings. Softbank's Arm is seen as likely to benefit from AI demand. Its rally helped push the Nikkei to a record-high close .
Premarket Movers
Etsy fell 8.2% after posting fourth-quarter earnings of 62 cents a share, below Wall Street estimates of 77 cents.
Lucid Group was falling 6.2% after it posted fourth-quarter revenue of $157.2 million, down from $258 million a year earlier, and said it expects to produce about 9,000 vehicles in 2024, below consensus expectations.
Rivian forecast flat vehicle production in 2024 compared with a year ago, which it attributed to challenging macroeconomic conditions. The company said it would cut its salaried workforce by about 10%. Shares fell 14%.
Royal Caribbean was up 6.4% after raising earnings guidance for 2024, with the cruise company saying it "continues to be very encouraged about the demand and pricing environment for 2024."
Sunrun was down 6.9% after it reported a fourth-quarter loss of $350 million and revenue of $516.6 million, down from $609.2 million a year earlier and below analysts' forecasts of $532.7 million.
Synopsys rose 5% after it reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.56 a share, and raised its forecast for the fiscal year.
Wednesday's Post-Close Movers
BuzzFeed will sell its Complex business to NTWRK for $108.6 million in cash and slash about 16% of remaining staff. The company said the divestiture and restructuring would allow it to focus on improving profitability. Shares nearly doubled in after-hours trading.
Enerplus and Chord Energy said they planned to merge, creating an $11 billion oil and gas company. Enerplus shares rose 9.4%, while Chord shares edged up 2.1%.
Watch For:
Weekly Jobless Claims; Existing Home Sales for January; Fedspeak from Philip Jefferson, Lisa Cook; Earnings from Moderna, Intuit, Booking Holdings, Wayfair, Carvana, Block, PG&E, Dominion Energy, Live Nation, Rocket Cos.
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- The New Hot Climate Investment Is Heat Itself
- Goldman Sachs's Chief Economist Has Nailed Big Calls. Here's His Next One.
- A Banking Crisis Could Be Closer Than You Think
- A $150 Billion Question: What Will Warren Buffett Do With All That Cash?
MARKET WRAPS
Forex:
A boost to equities following bumper results from Nvidia sent the dollar to its lowest level in 20 days against a basket of currencies, overriding cautious Fed minutes.
"I am not surprised that the Fed members won't rush toward the exit, but I am surprised that the dollar bulls are hard to bring on board," Swissquote said.
UniCredit Research said EUR/USD will probably continue to struggle above 1.08 without re-approaching 1.09, although a negative surprise from the Eurozone purchasing managers surveys probably won't drag the currency pair below 1.0750.
UniCredit Research said the surveys for the eurozone, U.K. and U.S. might prove a good test to evaluate the ability of many major currencies to gain ground against the dollar.
"Investors have already partly trimmed their positions, as reflected in the slide of the dollar index below 104," it said.
Sterling edged lower against the euro after U.K. flash PMIs for February were better than expected for the key services sector but worse than forecast for manufacturing.
Energy:
Oil prices were slightly firmer supported by a weakening dollar and heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, according to reports, data from the API showed crude stockpiles increased last week but demand prospects are improving as refineries try to return to service after outages. Official inventory data from the EIA is due later on Thursday.
Metals:
Metal prices pushed higher with gold pulling ahead after the release of the Fed's meeting minutes.
The precious metal held onto consecutive gains, as the Fed minutes offered guidance on when the bank may pivot toward monetary easing, MUFG said.
Elsewhere, China-sensitive base metals remained down year-to-date, although the larger-than-expected cut to the loan prime rate this week could signal that Chinese authorities are still focused on supporting growth conditions this year, MUFG said.
If reinforced by further policy easing measures, this could provide upside risk to 2024 demand, it added.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Nestle Warns on Sales Growth Slowdown as Shoppers Tighten Belts Amid Price Rises
Nestle cautioned that sales growth will moderate this year as higher prices force shoppers to ease spending, after full-year earnings and sales came in just shy of expectations.
The Swiss maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe coffee said Thursday that it expects organic sales to climb by around 4% this year, slowing from 7.2% growth in 2023 and below expectations of 4.7%, according to a consensus forecast provided by the company.
Mercedes-Benz Expects Lower Earnings But Lifts Dividend
Mercedes-Benz Group raised its dividend despite posting a decline for fourth-quarter sales and net profit, and forecast lower earnings this year on geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
The German luxury-car maker said Thursday that net profit slipped 21.5% on year to 3.16 billion euros ($3.42 billion), as inflation and supply-chain costs pressured the company's bottom line. Analysts expected net profit to finish the quarter at EUR2.80 billion, according to Visible Alpha.
Home Sales Likely Rebounded in January After Last Year's Sharp Decline
Sales of previously owned homes, which make up most of the housing market, will likely show an increase in January, economists said, following a drop last year to the lowest level in nearly three decades.
Home seekers took advantage of a decline in mortgage rates since the fall, and real-estate showings were up by the end of the month. But sales were held in check by the lack of supply.
Why Arm, Birkenstock, and Other European Firms Are Listing Their Stock in the U.S.
The U.S. is pulling in more companies from Europe looking to sell their shares.
The latest company to jump the Atlantic was the U.K.'s Flutter Entertainment, the parent of sports betting company FanDuel, among others. Flutter made its debut as a secondary listing in New York on Jan. 29 and immediately said it wanted to make that its primary listing.
Major Alabama Health System Pauses IVF Treatments After State Court Says Frozen Embryos Qualify as Children
A major Alabama health system is suspending in vitro fertilization treatments, days after the state's Supreme Court said frozen embryos qualify as children under a state law.
"We are saddened that this will impact our patients' attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments," a spokesperson for the University of Alabama at Birmingham said Wednesday.
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings [4Q Unless Stated Otherwise]:
Altus Grp Limited
Bausch Health Companies
Capstone Copper
Cascades
Centerra Gold
Chorus Aviation
Eldorado Gold
Enerplus
Exchange Income
First Majestic Silver
Guardian Capital
Jamieson Wellness
Loblaw Companies
Lundin Gold
Maple Leaf Foods
Newmont
Pembina Pipeline
Polaris Renewable Energy
Primo Water
Quebecor
Teck Resources
Economic Indicators (ET):
0830 Dec Employment Insurance
0830 Dec Retail trade
Stocks to Watch:
B2Gold 4Q Loss/Shr 9c; 4Q Rev $512M
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Enerplus Announces An 8% Increase To Its Quarterly Cash Dividend For March 2024
Enerplus 4Q Net $116.7M; 4Q EPS 55c
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Innergex Renewable 4Q Loss/Shr C$0.57; 4Q Rev C$261.5M; Withdrawing Previously Provided 2025 Financial Targets; Cites Recent Macroeconomic Trends for Financial-Target Withdrawal; to Proceed With Normal Course Issuer Bid for Its Common Shrs
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Lundin Mining 4Q EPS 5c; 4Q Adj EPS 10c; 4Q Net $66.8M; 4Q Rev $1.06B
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Northland Power 4Q Sales C$626.2M Vs. C$641.1M; 4Q Loss/Shr C$1.13 Vs. EPS C$1.12; 2023 Sales C$2.23B Vs. C$2.45B; Management Sees 2024 Adj. Ebitda at C$1.20B-C$1.30B
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Nutrien 4Q EPS 35c; 4Q Sales $5.66B; Increases Quarterly Dividend And Announces Intent To Launch A New Share Repurchase Program; Raises Quarterly Dividend to 54c Vs. 53c; Board Approves Purchase of up to 5% of Oustanding Common Shares Through Normal Course Issuer Bid
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Pan American Silver 4Q Rev $669.6M; 4Q Loss/Shr $0.19; 2023 Rev $2.32B; to Make Normal Course Issuer Bid to Repurchase Up to 5% of Issued and Outstanding Shares; To Repurchase Shares When Market Price May Not Reflect Underlying Value of Mining Operations, Properties, Future Growth; Bid to Begin on or Around March 6, 2024; To Continue Until on or Around March 5, 2025 or Earlier
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Stelco Holdings 4Q Rev C$613M; 4Q Loss C$25M; Raises Dividend to C$0.50; Plan to Commence NCIB to Purchase Up to 3,344,684 Common Shrs
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Suncor Energy 4Q EPS C$2.18; 4Q Net C$2.82B; 4Q Adj EPS C$1.26; No Changes to Corporate Guidance Ranges
Suncor Energy Names Russell Girling as Chair; Girling to Succeed Michael Wilson on March 15; Dennis Houston to Retire From Board
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Superior Plus 4Q Rev C$985.8M; 4Q EPS C$0.27
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(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
02-22-24 0619ET
