Stocks set for a mixed open
U.S. stock markets look likely to open mixed on Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 424.51 points in the previous session to close at a new all-time high of 31,961.86.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also closed in the green territory, jumping 1.1% and 1%, respectively.
The gains came after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his view that interest rates will remain at near-zero level for a while longer and that inflation will remain mild.
By 5:25 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow rose 46.5 points, or 0.15% to 31,962.5. Those for the S&P 500 dropped 4.38 points, or 0.11% to 3,918.12 while the Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 84 points, or 0.63% to 13,218.
GameStop stock soars 57% pre-market in renewed trading frenzy
GameStop (NYSE: GME) rocketed more than 57% in pre-market trading on Thursday as retail traders on Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets ran their playbook again.
As of this writing, the stock was marked $52.30, or 57.03% to $144.01 a share pre-market. The shares gained 103.94% on Wednesday to close at $91.71.
Several explanations are circulating as to what has triggered the unexpected rally. Some people cited GameStop put and call options, which are set to expire on Friday.
Others cited a reshuffling of top executives after the video games retailer announced late Tuesday that its CFO Jim Bell, would be leaving the company after less than two years on the job.
Shares in AMC (NYSE: AMC), Koss (NASDAQ: KOSS), and Express (NYSE: EXPR) were also trading higher pre-market.
Weekly jobless claims on tap
Today’s economic calendar features data on initial jobless claims and the second estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Analysts expect a slight decline for the week ended Feb. 20, but the number of filings is likely to stay at historically high levels.
At the same time, analysts expect a GDP reading of 2.0%, which would be up moderately from the first reading of 1.9%.
Airbnb, DoorDash, Beyond Meat earnings
Traders will also be awaiting quarterly earnings from newly listed companies DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) and Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB).
Analysts expect DoorDash to report a quarterly loss of 14 cents per share on revenue of $937.95 million after the closing bell. Airbnb is expected to post a loss at $9.16 per share on $747.59 million revenue for the latest quarter after the market close.
Other earnings to watch today include Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), Papa John’s (NASDAQ: PZZA), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), and Esty (NASDAQ: ETSY).
