Wall Street leaned toward losses in the early going Thursday as markets absorbed the latest quarterly performances of some big companies, and ahead of new reads on inflation and employment in the U.S.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.1% before the opening bell.
Delta Air Lines skidded to a 7% loss with its third-quarter earnings down 26%. The airline struggled to overcome a global technology outage in July that led to thousands of flight cancellations. Delta said does expect to return to year-over-year earnings growth in the current quarter and is seeking compensation for the outage that cost it $500 million.
Domino’s Pizza swung to a 1.4% gain after it easily beat Wall Street’s profit targets on strong same-store sales in the U.S.
The U.S. will release consumer price data for September early, the latest look at the state of inflation and a key factor influencing the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.
The Fed has just begun cutting interest rates from a two-decade high, as it widens its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.
Also arriving Thursday is the government’s weekly report on U.S. layoffs. The Fed is watching labor market data for signs that the broader economy is slowing, though even in the high-interest rate environment of the past two years, jobs have remained plentiful and layoffs historically low.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 retreated 0.2%. Germany’s DAX was unchanged.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.3% to finish at 39,380.89. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,223.00. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2% to 2,599.16.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.1% to 21,270.01 after a previous day of wild swings. Earlier in the week, the index dropped more than 9%, recording its worst loss since the global financial crisis of 2008. The Shanghai Composite surged 1.3% to 3,301.93.
After rising on hopes for stimulus to prop up the world’s second-largest economy, Chinese stocks slumped earlier this week on disappointment that more isn’t on the way. One plus was the announcement from China’s Finance Ministry it will hold a briefing Saturday that could provide details on planned government moves.
“There’s still a glimmer of hope that Beijing might swoop in with a fiscal stimulus lifeline in October to reignite growth. In short, the market is hanging in the balance, waiting for the next big move,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 84 cents to $74.08 per barrel. A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, recovered 83 cents to $77.41 a barrel. It briefly topped $81 early this week.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 148.96 Japanese yen from 149.16 yen. The euro fell to $1.0933.
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