US stock indices futures were slumping slightly during morning trading on Thursday, but investors' demand for stocks remained fairly strong. Investors hope that the economic consequences of the new Omicron variant won't be as severe as previously thought. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down by 148 pips or 0.4%. Futures on the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100 index declined by 0.4%.
The market's rapid return to its all-time highs after the major volatility seen earlier this month was driven by the belief that Omicron is a less serious strain than it was expected. Notably, tourism-related stocks topped the week. However, amid profit-taking, the premarket was not the best for Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line securities, which had sunk by 1% before the market opened, but the securities are expected to grow. The Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands casinos stocks were down by 2% and 1%, respectively. A number of airlines are down slightly as well.
There are no important statistics today except weekly US labor market data, which is unlikely to seriously affect the index. Tomorrow we will have important data on US inflation, as the Labor Department is releasing its Consumer Price Index for November on Friday. Economists expect the year-over-year growth rate to be 6.7%. If so, it would be the largest increase since June 1982. Federal Reserve officials are expected to respond to the surge in inflationary pressures and announce plans next week to taper their asset-buying program.
The first step is an accelerated reduction in the central bank's monthly asset purchases to $30 billion. This could pave the way for higher interest rates as early as spring 2022.
The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indices rose by 0.1% and 0.3% yesterday, respectively, showing the third straight day of gains. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.64%, also rising for the third day in a row. Such an increase was due to the securities of Apple.
Expectations of a milder wave of the pandemic are supporting the markets. "The range of possibilities is still wide, but in the bigger picture, we think the odds are still very much in favor of the pandemic phase winding down," Bank of America wrote in a note to clients following the announcement. "In our view, COVID is here to stay, but a shift to the endemic phase is approaching where infections are common but severe outcomes / lockdowns / travel restrictions are not," the firm added.
Now, let's look at the premarket
CVS Health shares jumped by 2.2% in premarket trading after the pharmacy operator issued new guidance before investor day, saying it expects 2022 adjusted earnings of $8.10-8.30 per share, up from an estimate of $8.24.
Rent The Runway showed the biggest decline. Its stock fell by 11.3% in the premarket after the designer wear rental company reported losses being higher than a year ago.
As for the gaming industry, GameStop dropped by 4% in the premarket after the video game retailer reported larger losses than a year earlier.
Apple is back on track after the company managed to cancel the court's ruling that delayed changes to its App Store. An earlier ruling ordered Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payments outside of the App Store due to a legal dispute with Fortnite, Epic Games. In addition, Apple is approaching a $3 trillion market cap, which is likely to be reached when the stock price jumps to $182.86.
The FDA approved AstraZeneca's antibody Covid-19 treatment. This has given some momentum to the company in the premarket.
As for the S&P500 index technical picture
Currently, traders are trying to break through to $4,718, which may open the way to new highs in the area between $4,750 and $4,770. If the pressure on the market remains today, the nearest support is located near $4,654, and larger levels for opening long positions are located in the area between $4,599 and $4,551.
