Stock market today: Live updates
29 Mins Ago
A flat open in Europe, but FTSE 100 pops after softer-than-expected UK inflation
European shares made a muted start to Wednesday’s trade.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index inched 0.1% higher in early trade, with retail stocks adding 0.5% while mining stocks slipped 0.7% lower.
Britain’s FTSE 100 was the top performer, adding 0.6% while most major European bourses hovered around the flatline.
– Elliot Smith
54 Mins Ago
UK inflation holds steady at 4%, below expectations
Shoppers walk past shops on Regent Street on the final weekday before Christmas in London on December 22, 2023.
Henry Nicholls | Afp | Getty Images
U.K. inflation held steady at 4% year-on-year in January on the back of easing prices for furniture and household goods, food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Month-on-month, the headline consumer price index fell to -0.6%, returning to negative territory after December’s surprise increase by 0.4% on the month and 4% annually.
Economists polled by Reuters had produced a consensus forecast of 4.2% year-on-year for January and -0.3% for the month.
“The largest upward contribution to the monthly change in both CPIH and CPI annual rates came from housing and household services (principally higher gas and electricity charges), while the largest downward contribution came from furniture and household goods, and food and non-alcoholic beverages,” the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
– Elliot Smith
8 Hours Ago
Investors are ‘way over our skis’ on AI, Jeremy Grantham says
Artificial intelligence will be more than just a passing fad, but that doesn’t mean now is a good time to buy the stocks tied to the trend, according to GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham.
“My guess is we are getting wildly enthusiastic about AI. It is an incredibly important development, like the internet was, and probably more so. … But it will need a digestive phase. We are, I think, way over our skis,” Grantham said at the Exchange ETF conference on Tuesday.
The fund manager, who has built his multidecade career around identifying quality stocks and avoiding speculative booms, compared AI to the tech bubble around 2000 and the bubble in railroad stocks more than a century ago.
— Jesse Pound
9 Hours Ago
European earnings could sustain their loftier levels, Bernstein says
European earnings have seen a robust season, and signs point to this strength staying, according to Bernstein.
“European forward earnings are currently 14% above their long-run trend, and 30% higher than pre-Covid at the market level, which makes for an uneasy visual,” the investment firm wrote. “Is there a risk of a significant cut to estimates and earnings return to long-run trend?”
To answer this question, Bernstein polled analysts covering banks, semiconductors, energy, autos and capital goods, or the European industries whose earnings have so far been most above trend.
“While near-term tactical earnings downgrades are expected in all cases, we do not see a significant risk of earnings returning to trend, for reasons which are idiosyncratic to each industry,” Bernstein wrote.
— Lisa Kailai Han
9 Hours Ago
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading.
Robinhood Markets — Shares jumped 9.5% after the trading platform posted a surprise earnings and revenue beat. Robinhood reported 3 cents in earnings per share, versus analysts’ expectations of a loss of 1 cent per share, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $471 million, topping the $457 million expected by analysts.
Lyft — The ride-hailing operator saw its shares soar 18.5% in extended trading after it reported strong fourth-quarter results and gave better-than-expected guidance. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of 18 cents for the fourth quarter, topping analysts’ estimates of 8 cents, according to LSEG. Revenue of $1.22 billion was in line with analysts’ expectations.
The full list can be found here.
— Hakyung Kim
9 Hours Ago
Stock futures open flat Tuesday
U.S. stock futures opened little changed on Tuesday.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked down 19 points, or 0.05%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 traded near the flatline, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.08%.
— Hakyung Kim
Source link
