Stock Market Futures Dip Following 75 Basis Point Hike From Federal Reserve
U.S. stock futures are in the red as we approach the latter half of the current trading week. This follows a series of unpredictable days stemming from investors’ concerns over the economy. After a series of steep losses across equity and crypto markets, things do not appear to be settling for now. For the most part, this would be despite the latest updates from Fed chairman Jerome Powell. To begin with, the central bank is moving to hike interest rate points by 75 basis points. This would mark its largest raise since 1994. Accordingly, Powell also expressed support for a similar rise in July. This would indicate that the Fed is taking a more aggressive approach to addressing decades-high inflation.
Weighing in on all this is Charlie Ripley, the VP of portfolio management at Allianz (OTCMKTS: ALIZF). He states, “Today’s announcement confirms the Fed’s commitment to fight the inflation battle more aggressively despite the potential aftermath from raising rates at such a rapid pace.” Ripley continues, “Overall, Fed policy rates have been out of sync with the inflation story for some time and the aggressive hikes from the Fed should appease markets for the time being.” Evidently, companies across the board saw recovery rallies before yesterday’s closing bell. This is apparent in firms like Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), and Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU).
Meanwhile, there also appears to be no shortage of notable stock market news to consider today as well. As of 5:39 a.m. ET, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures are trading lower by 1.85%, 2.31%, and 2.78% respectively.
Musk To Go Forward With Deal To Acquire Twitter
Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) are once again making headlines in the stock market today. On the whole, this would be thanks to a new report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). According to the WSJ news piece, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk will be confirming his intent to acquire the company. For those unaware, this would help to dispel the recent tension between Musk and the social media firm. Following the CEO’s claims that Twitter breached the terms of the takeover deal by withholding information about bot accounts, investors were concerned about the probability of the deal falling through.
Furthermore, the WSJ notes that Musk will be doing so at his first meeting with Twitter employees. Through the hour-long meeting due to start later today, Musk aims to answer employee questions. Among the key focuses will likely be the Tesla CEO’s opinions on remote work, hiring changes, and even the status of former President Donald Trump’s ban. For one thing, these concerns among others would not be all that surprising. After all, Musk has been and remains very vocal about his stance on all these issues. Regardless, all this would put TWTR stock on investors’ radars at the opening bell today.
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Adobe Earnings On Tap After Today’s Closing Bell: What To Know
Among the notable firms reporting earnings today would be Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE). Namely, this leading computer software developer is set to host its second fiscal quarter earnings call after the closing bell today. After considering the earnings beats from Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) earlier this quarter, investors could have their hopes up for Adobe. This could especially be the case for investors looking to jump on amidst the recent turbulence in tech stocks. As it stands, consensus figures on Wall Street are earnings of $3.31 per share on revenue of $4.35 billion.
Even with its latest quarterly update due later today, Adobe does not seem to be slowing down on the operational front in the least bit. For starters, the company is currently testing out a “freemium,” version of its flagship Photoshop software in Canada. According to Adobe’s VP of digital imaging, Maria Yap, “We want to make [Photoshop] more accessible and easier for more people to try it out and experience the product.” This could, in theory, serve to further increase Adobe’s market penetration in the long run.
Moreover, the company is also expanding its more cutting-edge offerings as well. As of earlier this week, it is currently reworking several 3D content creation tools by implementing better integration with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) computers. According to Adobe, it is focusing on optimizing these tools with Apple’s “M” series processing chips in mind. As the company continues to fire on all cylinders, investors would have reasons to watch ADBE stock in the stock market now.
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Boeing In Focus Following Reports Of 737 Max Test Flights In China
Another company in the news today could be Boeing (NYSE: BA). This aircraft industry titan is gaining altitude now following reports regarding its 737 MAX airplane. In detail, reports coming out of China indicate that local carriers are conducting test flights of the aircraft. According to sources from Reuters, China Southern Airlines flew a Boeing 737 Max from Guangzhou to Nanyang in central China earlier this week. As a result of this report, BA stock saw gains of over 9% during intraday trading yesterday.
In the larger scheme of things, investors could see this as Boeing’s return to the Chinese market. Ideally, this would further add to the company’s recovery alongside growing global travel demands. Not to mention, China Southern Airlines would be among China’s largest airline operators. With the company testing its latest offerings, this would be a step in the right direction for Boeing. Pair this with BA stock trading just above its 2020 lows and investors could see opportunity amidst all this.
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Enterprise Products To Build $5 Billion Steam Cracker In Southeast Texas
In other news, midstream natural gas and crude oil firm Enterprise Products (NYSE: EPD) is making major moves. As of yesterday, the company is working to build a $5 billion steam cracker in southeast Texas. This information comes from official Texas Comptroller Office documents. According to current official estimates, the pipeline could process up to 2 million metric tons of ethane and propane annually. It will do all of this at its marine site in Beaumont along the Neches River.
While Enterprise has not provided any official response, Chris D’Anna, the company’s SVP of petrochemicals did speak on the company’s steam cracker building plans in December 2021. In an interview with S&P global Commodity Insights, D’Anna highlights, “Our goal for a cracker isn’t to compete with our customers that also have crackers.” He adds that it serves “to enable people that don’t want a whole cracker – they want 15% or 20% of a cracker to have that same structure and economics as if they build a world-scale themselves.” With all this in mind, investors may be considering EPD stock among its energy industry peers.
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