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Stock Market Today: Main indexes open in negative territory, eyes on Fed minutes


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  • Wall Street’s main indexes opened in negative territory for the second consecutive day.
  • Investors await Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting minutes.
  • Technology is the worst-performing major S&P sector at the opening bell.

Dow Jones (DJIA) loses 0.37% at 38,420.60, S&P 500 (SPX) is down 0.3% at 4,961 and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) falls 0.5% to trade at 15,552.98.

What to know as stock markets open

  • Technology Sector is the worst-performing major S&P sector after the opening bell, losing nearly 1% on the day. Consumer Discretionary Sector is up 0.6%.
  • Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) is the top gainer in the early trade, rising 8.2% to trade at $133.58. On the other hand, Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PAN) lose more than 25% to trade at $271.50.
  • Retailer giant Walmart Inc. (WMT) reported an adjusted earning per share of $1.8 ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday. The company said that it expects consolidated net sales to rise in the range of 3%-4% and announced that it will buy smart-TV producer Vizio (VZIO) for about $2.3 billion.
  • Read more: Walmart Earnings News: WMT advances 5% on Q4 beat with Vizio acquisition in the bag.
  • Home Depot Inc. (HD) said net income in Q4 was $2.8 billion, and the adjusted earnings per share was $2.82. The company, however, said that it projects sales for the fiscal year 2024 to be below estimates, citing slowing demand for discretionary items such as flooring, furniture and kitchen, per Reuters.
  • The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the January policy meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday, preliminary February Manufacturing and Services PMI reports for Germany, the Eurozone, the UK and the US will be scrutinized by market participants. 
  • NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) and Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) will release quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. 
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand in the US rose 0.9% on a yearly basis in January. This reading followed the 1% increase recorded in December but came in above the market expectation of 0.6%. The annual Core PPI rose 2% in the same period, compared to December’s increase of 1.8%. On a monthly basis, the Core PPI was up 0.5% following the 0.1% decline recorded in the previous month.
  • Inflation in the US, as measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), softened to 3.1% on a yearly basis in January from 3.4% in December, the BLS reported on Tuesday. This reading came in above the market expectation of 2.9%. The Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.9% in the same period and matched December’s increase, surpassing analysts’ estimate of 3.7%.

Nasdaq FAQs

The Nasdaq is a stock exchange based in the US that started out life as an electronic stock quotation machine. At first, the Nasdaq only provided quotations for over-the-counter (OTC) stocks but later it became an exchange too. By 1991, the Nasdaq had grown to account for 46% of the entire US securities’ market. In 1998, it became the first stock exchange in the US to provide online trading. The Nasdaq also produces several indices, the most comprehensive of which is the Nasdaq Composite representing all 2,500-plus stocks on the Nasdaq, and the Nasdaq 100.

The Nasdaq 100 is a large-cap index made up of 100 non-financial companies from the Nasdaq stock exchange. Although it only includes a fraction of the thousands of stocks in the Nasdaq, it accounts for over 90% of the movement. The influence of each company on the index is market-cap weighted. The Nasdaq 100 includes companies with a significant focus on technology although it also encompasses companies from other industries and from outside the US. The average annual return of the Nasdaq 100 has been 17.23% since 1986.

There are a number of ways to trade the Nasdaq 100. Most retail brokers and spread betting platforms offer bets using Contracts for Difference (CFD). For longer-term investors, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) trade like shares that mimic the movement of the index without the investor needing to buy all 100 constituent companies. An example ETF is the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ). Nasdaq 100 futures contracts allow traders to speculate on the future direction of the index. Options provide the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the Nasdaq 100 at a specific price (strike price) in the future.

Many different factors drive the Nasdaq 100 but mainly it is the aggregate performance of the component companies revealed in their quarterly and annual company earnings reports. US and global macroeconomic data also contributes as it impacts on investor sentiment, which if positive drives gains. The level of interest rates, set by the Federal Reserve (Fed), also influences the Nasdaq 100 as it affects the cost of credit, on which many corporations are heavily reliant. As such the level of inflation can be a major driver too as well as other metrics which impact on the decisions of the Fed.