Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:
1. Dow set for higher opening target as Wall Street prepares for a difficult month to close
Traders on the NYSE floor
Source: NYSE
Dow futures rose about 100 points, or about 0.3%, on Thursday, the last day of September and the third quarter. S&P and Nasdaq futures saw similar percentage gains as rising bond yields paused a day after rising interest rates hit technology stocks again. The Nasdaq fell for the fourth time in a row on Wednesday. However, the S&P 500 broke a two-day losing streak and the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back from Tuesday’s sell-off. All three stock benchmarks were lower over the month.
- In the third quarter, the S&P 500 rose by more than 1.4% at the closing price on Wednesday for the sixth positive quarter in a row.
- For the Dow and Nasdaq, Thursday’s trading could determine whether they end the third quarter in positive or negative territory.
- Looking ahead, October saw heavy sell-offs, but it’s usually the start of better seasonal year-end performance for stocks. All three benchmarks achieved solid gains in 2021.
Bed Bath & Beyond shares were down more than 18% in pre-trading on Thursday as the company reported a sharp drop in traffic in August, which dealt a blow to second-quarter results. The wholesaler is also dealing with industry-wide supply chain complications that are “ubiquitous” according to CEO Mark Tritton.
2. Fed Chairman Powell returns to Capitol Hill after inflation adjustment
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee hearing on CARES on September 28, 2021 at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, United States.
Kevin Dietsch | Reuters
The US 10-year Treasury yield fell Thursday but remained near the high at around 1.52% through June. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell returns to Capitol Hill, this time to testify before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. On Tuesday, he told the Senate Banking Committee that inflationary pressures could last longer than expected. Powell repeated this warning at an ECB event on Wednesday.
The Department of Labor reported Thursday morning that initial jobless claims rose to 362,000 for the week ended September 25. The Commerce Department’s third look at the gross domestic product for the second quarter has been revised upwards to an annual growth rate of 6.7%. That was a little higher than the estimates.
3. Agreement reached on government funding, but no debt containment measures
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters after the Senate Democrats’ weekly political lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, United States, on September 28, 2021.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
The Senate has reached an agreement to avoid a government shutdown, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Wednesday. The bill would fund the government through early December and provide money for hurricane relief and resettlement of Afghan refugees. But it will not include a suspension of the debt ceiling. Congress must pass a funding bill before midnight to avoid a shutdown.
Legislators must now raise the US debt ceiling separately before October 18 to prevent a first national bankruptcy. The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that is practically dead by the time it arrives in the Senate because Republicans want nothing to do with raising the debt ceiling.
4. A bipartisan infrastructure law passed by the Senate meets with resistance in the House of Representatives
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during an event about the Build Back Better Act and the climate crisis at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, USA, September 28, 2021.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
The $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill faces an uncertain future. House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday she wanted to pass it on Thursday but left room to postpone the vote. The package, passed in the Senate last month, has met opposition from progressive Democrats, who are first calling for action against their party’s massive $ 3.5 trillion reconciliation bill to strengthen social safety nets. House Republicans are trying to put pressure on the Democrats and are calling on GOP members to vote “no” on the infrastructure bill.
5. Facebook’s security chief is testified at an Instagram Senate hearing
A person who uses Instagram.
Lorenzo Di Cola | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Facebook’s global security director was summoned to testify at the Senate Trade Committee hearing on Instagram’s impact on young users. Political opponents in Congress agree on their outrage against Facebook for privately gathering information that its Instagram photo-sharing service appears to be causing serious harm to some teenagers, especially girls, while publicly downplaying the negative effects of the popular platform.
- Increasing public pressure on the revelations, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, has led Facebook to stop working on a children’s version of Instagram.
- Facebook said in a blog post on Wednesday that it “provided Congress with the two complete research decks that were the primary focus of the Wall Street Journal’s mischaracterization of Instagram’s internal research on teenagers and wellbeing.”
– NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all market activity like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.
