Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Shares are expected to fall after the Wall Street turnaround on Tuesday
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures fell on Wednesday, a day after the wild Wall Street rush that saw Nasdaq recover almost entirely a loss of nearly 4% to close just 0.5%. The S&P 500 reversed a 1.8% drop to close slightly, breaking a five-game losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eliminated a drop of 360 points, or more than 1%, to close modestly higher for the third consecutive session.
Tuesday’s turnaround, especially in technology stocks, came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that inflation is still “low” and the economic outlook is still “highly uncertain” due to the pandemic. This lessened fears of a change in central bank policy. Powell appears before the House’s Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, the second and final part of his mandatory six-month economic testimony to Congress.
The Food and Drug Administration team endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, a critical step in bringing a third injection to the U.S. market. The team’s report aims to inform the FDA Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which will meet on Friday to review J&J’s request for emergency use authorization. J&J’s shares went up.
2. Tesla jumps and a hot hand fund manager may be the reason
In this photo illustration, a Tesla logo displayed on a smartphone with the stock market graph in the background.
Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty Images
Tesla’s recovery in the pre-market was moderate after staging a big return on Tuesday. At one point, when bitcoin prices plummeted, stocks plunged 13%. Tesla recently released an investment in bitcoin. At Tuesday’s closing bell, it recovered most of those losses to end with a drop of just 2.2%. However, Tesla’s four-session decline totaled more than 11%, dragging the bullish stocks to red by almost 1% in 2021. In the past 12 months, it was still a colossal 287% increase.
Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood, who had a hot hand recently, won more than $ 120 million in Tesla shares during Tuesday’s defeat and subsequent return. The purchase of Wood may have helped trigger a turnaround at Tesla, tweeted Jim Cramer of CNBC.
Wood told Bloomberg on Tuesday that she is particularly optimistic about Tesla’s free ride service as a bridge to autonomous driving. “We don’t think that many analysts are giving Tesla credit as a freelancer. If they were, stocks would be much higher, ”she added.
3. Bitcoin rebounds, returning above $ 50,000
Costfoto | Barcroft Media | Getty Images
Wood, also a bitcoin bull, told Bloomberg: “” We are very optimistic about Bitcoin, very happy to see a healthy correction here, no market is up. “Bitcoin rose again above $ 50,000 on Wednesday after a big sale off earlier this week. Bitcoin is over 70% in the year to date and over 400% in the past 12 months.
Square said on Tuesday that it bought $ 170 million in bitcoin. The fintech company run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey bought $ 50 million from the world’s largest cryptocurrency last year. Dorsey, one of the most well-known supporters of bitcoin, once predicted that it would become the “single currency” of the Internet.
4. GameStop CFO will resign after shares rise driven by Reddit
A GameStop store is depicted in New York, January 29, 2021.
Carlo AllegriI | Reuters
GameStop CFO Jim Bell will step down next month. The video game retailer said Bell’s resignation was not due to any disagreement with the company regarding its operations, including accounting principles and practices. A source told Reuters that Bell’s departure was unrelated to the recent violent swings fueled by Reddit in GameStop’s stock. However, the source said his departure was initiated by GameStop, in a sign that he was not seen as the right person as the retailer transitions to a technology-driven business.
5. Lowe’s leads earnings estimates from increased same-store sales
A Lowe’s hardware store in Philadelphia.
Mark Makela | Reuters
Lowe’s shares were up 1% in the pre-market after the renovation retailer said on Wednesday that same-quarter sales in the fourth quarter were up 28% as consumers spent more on home projects during Covid. Adjusted quarterly earnings of $ 1.33 per share and revenue of $ 20.31 billion exceeded expectations. Lowe’s reiterated his forecast on an investor’s day in December, when his CFO said retirement sales are likely to fall in 2021, as more people get vaccinated and spend more time away from their homes.
– Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all developments on Wall Street in real time with the CNBC Pro live markets blog. Get the latest pandemic news with our coronavirus blog.