St. Louis Fed James Bullard Admitted Fed’s Monetary Policy Had Only “Limited Effects”

U.S. stock futures are trading cautiously higher this European afternoon. Some big stock names recorded the premarket gains. Existing home sales will be highly in focus across today's U.S. data, with the October number seen coming in at 4.4 million, down from 4.7 million a month before. The leading index is seen coming in at -0.4%.

The earnings season is still full fledge, and some new reports are already making a profound impact on traders’ sentiment. Among them are Ross Stores (ROST) which gained 16% to $114.20 in pre-market after the clothing discounter reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued strong earnings guidance. Similarly, Provention Bio (PRVB) surged 9.1% to $8.99 at the time of writing. Provention said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, approved the use of its TZIELD (teplizumab-mzwb) in minors, on top of adults, — the first treatment targeted at delaying the onset of insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) gained 8.6% to $170.00 on premarket after the company reported better-than-expected results for Q2 and issued strong FY23 earnings guidance. The company also announced plans to acquire Cider Security for approximately $195 million.

U.S. equities lost ground yesterday for a second consecutive session on reiterated concerns about further Fed tightening and its negative impact on the U.S. economy. Thus, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said the Fed’s current policy has had only “limited effects,” and policymakers need to boost rates higher to make them “sufficiently restrictive.” The yield on the 10-year Treasury gained 8 basis points (bps), sending shares of American Express (AXP), Goldman Sachs (GS), and some other financial lower. Tech stocks also struggled. Thus, Salesforce (CRM) and Netflix (NFLX) shares declined 3%. Shares of Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA) fell 2%. Higher rates also pulled down shares of home builders and retailers.

Elon Musk gave Twitter (TWTR) employees who are on strike an ultimatum to either commit to the company’s new work environment or leave. But many employees decided to take severance leaves, thereby creating a very tumultuous environment and upsetting the stock performance. According to a new memo, Twitter closed its offices until Monday. Musk’s takeover of Twitter is still facing U.S. government scrutiny.

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) sank after a double downgrade by Credit Suisse. Shares of rivals Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) and Carnival Corporation (CCL) followed suite. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) shares nosedived on weaker-than-expected results and poor guidance. However, Target (TGT) shares surprisingly rebounded despite a number of substantial drawbacks unveiled in their recent quarterly financial report, including the company’s warning about sales during the key holiday season. Elsewhere, prices for most major cryptocurrencies were little changed.

European stocks are rallying as all sectors rise, led by energy, miners and financial services. The UK Office for National Statistics revealed, that retail sales volumes in the United Kingdom saw a monthly increase of 0.6% in October, slightly overshooting expectations. On an annual basis, the figure declined by 6.1%. Compared to the level registered in February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic started, it declined by 0.6%. Meanwhile, COP27 Climate conference ends today, and earnings include Gazprom and Rosneft. At the time of writing, the Pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 Index is gaining a robust 1.14%, the British FTSE 100 is trading higher by 0.87%, while the German DAX is advancing by 1.16%, and the French CAC 40 Index rose 1.12%.

Asian markets ended mostly in the red. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.29% to 17,992, while China’s Shanghai Composite retreated by 0.58% to 3,097. Indian benchmark indices also ended lower amid mixed global cues and softened crude oil prices. NSE Nifty 50 lost over 30 points to end trade at 18,307, whereas BSE Sensex ended 86 points down, at 61,663. A potentially slowing economy and new Covid-19 cases in China drove oil futures down 4%. The U.S. dollar gained against the euro, British pound and yen. Corporatewise, JD.com (JD) stated earlier today that its Q3 net revenue grew 11.4% on an annual basis to $34.2 billion. Net income came in to $800 million, compared to a loss of $393 million in Q3 2021. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) stood at $0.50, compared to a loss per share of $0.25 in the same period last year.