Nasdaq 100 futures advanced on Thursday morning, as technology shares looked to rebound after the Nasdaq Composite’s worst session since 2022. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.8%, while S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 101 points, or 0.2%. Discover Financial popped 3% after its second-quarter results topped expectations. Beyond Meat tumbled about 12.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar, that the meat substitute company is meeting with bondholders to begin discussions about restructuring its balance sheet. Those moves come after the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.8% in its worst day since December 2022, closing below 18,000 for the first time since July 1. The S&P 500 dropped 1.4%, hurt largely by tech names in the index. However, the blue-chip Dow, which has less exposure to the tech trade than the other two indexes, outperformed. The 30-stock index gained 243.6 points, or 0.6%, closing above 41,000 for the first time ever. Wall Street has been dumping shares of this year’s artificial intelligence plays as the growing likelihood of a September rate cut bolstered optimism in the broader market. That’s particularly helped small-cap and more cyclical names, which are seen as beneficiaries a lower borrowing costs. This explains why the Russell 2000 has jumped more than 9% in the last five trading days, despite a 1% pullback on Wednesday. And Wednesday marked the first session since 2001 where the Nasdaq posted a loss exceeding 2.5%, while the blue-chip Dow registered a gain. Investors have been hoping for a broadening market amid concerns that the tech-driven rally is running out of steam. However, some expect the change in leadership may not be enough to protect stocks from challenges ahead, including the possibility of an economic slowdown. “This is a market — a Fed pivot market — two, three months before we expect a cut, exactly as we’d expect to see it,” said Lauren Goodwin, chief market strategist at New York Life Investments, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” There’s “a lot of uplift in areas like small caps, other areas of the risk market where capital is really unlocking.” “But the reality for the market is that we’ve already been in a soft landing for the next nine months,” Goodwin said. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged higher on Thursday as investors digested a range of comments by Federal Reserve officials and what they could mean for interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was trading around 4.17%, up more than 2 basis points. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose by less than 1 basis point to 4.46%. Most Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday as chip-related stocks dropped following reports of more stringent export restrictions from the U.S. and as comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump raised geopolitical tensions. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 2.36% to end the trading day at 40,126.35, while the Topix slid 1.6% to close at 2,868.63. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.67% to 2,824.35, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.84% to wrap the session at 822.48. Samsung Electronics ended the day 0.23% higher. Shares of TSMC, the world’s largest chip maker, fell more than 2.43%, dragging the Taiwan Weighted Index to close lower by 1.56%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.64% in its last hour of trading, while China’s CSI 300 followed suit to end the day with a 0.55% rise to 3,520.93. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.27% to conclude at 8,036.50. U.S. oil futures edged slightly lower on Thursday after jumping 2.6% in the previous session as crude inventories fell for the third week in a row. U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, though gasoline stocks rose by 3.3 million barrels and motor fuel demand weakened by 615,000 barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate August contract: $82.74 per barrel, down 11 cents, or 0.13%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has gained 15.5%. Brent September contract: $84.90 per barrel, down 18 cents, or 0.21%. Year to date, the global benchmark is ahead 10.2%. Gold prices edged higher on Thursday, trading not too far away from a record high scaled in the previous session, as rising anticipation of a U.S. interest rate cut in September boosted demand. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,464.29 per ounce. Prices hit an all-time high of $2,483.60 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures added 0.3% to $2,467.60.
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