U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday as Wall Street tried to regain its footing following a decline in the previous session. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 46 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures each climbed 0.2%. Penn Entertainment surged nearly 15% after the casino company said it’s launching an online sportsbook with ESPN, called ESPN Bet, this fall. Stocks struggled Tuesday. The Dow closed 158.64 points lower, or 0.45%. Still, that’s better than where the Dow was at session lows when it declined about 465 points. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell by 0.42%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.79%. The losses came after Moody’s downgrade of several regional banks dampened investor sentiment. Some market participants were concerned the signal could spell more trouble for markets ahead, but others say the pullback is expected given the extraordinary rally in equities this year. “I think you’re just seeing a little bit of a breather,” Victoria Greene, chief investment officer G Squared Private Wealth, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Tuesday. “I think we got very overbought, priced to perfection. There are still a lot of macro headwinds. … So I think is this a little bit warranted.” Roblox is set to report earnings results before the open Wednesday. Entertainment giant Disney and casino operator Wynn Resorts are slated to post quarterly results after the close. Stocks in China and Hong Kong fell Wednesday as China’s consumer prices slipped into negative territory in July, for the first time in 28 months. The CSI300, which tracks stocks of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell 0.31%. Mainland Chinese markets were lower, with the Shanghai Composite closing 0.49% down at 3,244.49 and extending its losing streak to three days. The Shenzhen Component lost 0.53% to close at 11,039.45, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was hovering above the flatline in its final hour of trade. China’s July CPI declined by 0.3% year-on-year, smaller than the 0.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters — the last time China recorded a fall in its inflation rate was in February 2021. Its producer price index fell 4.4% in July compared to a year ago, more than the 4.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.53% and closed at 32,204.33, while the Topix fell 0.4% to end at 2,282.57. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.2% up at 2,605.12 to snap a five-day losing streak, while the Kosdaq was up 1.86% to finish at 908.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was also higher, gaining 0.37% to end at 7,338. Oil edged higher on Wednesday as tighter supply arising from output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia offset concerns over slow demand from top crude importer China and a report showing rising U.S. crude inventories. Saudi Arabia’s cabinet said on Tuesday that it reaffirms its support for precautionary measures by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to stabilize the market, state media reported. Brent crude futures rose 81 cents, or 0.9%, to $86.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 93 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.85. Both contracts gained nearly $1 the previous day. Gold prices bounced back on Wednesday from one-month lows hit in the previous session, as the dollar and bond yields weakened a day ahead of the release of U.S. consumer price data that could build the case for or against further interest rates hikes. Spot gold was flat at $1,924.98 per ounce, having dropped to its lowest since July 10 at $1,922 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures traded marginally lower at $1,958.8.
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