Stock futures slipped Wednesday after a wholesale inflation reading and the latest batch of bank earnings reports, while safe-haven gold and silver surged to fresh record highs.
Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were a respective 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.3% lower after the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ delayed Producer Price Index report for November revealed wholesale prices rose 0.2% from September, the last monthly reading before the U.S. government shutdown. Economists were expecting an 0.3% rise.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of commercial and consumer loans, remained around 4.16% following the reading.
Major stock indexes closed lower yesterday, with the Dow shedding 400 points, as investors digested a consumer inflation reading that matched expectations and bank earnings season kicked off with a mixed report from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), whose stock declined more than 4%. Shares of the largest U.S. bank were down a further 0.5% in premarket trading.
Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) shares declined 1.7% and 2.5%, respectively, after reporting fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter results before the bell, while Citigroup (C) stock was up about 2%.
Prices of precious metals surged Wednesday, with gold futures hitting an all-time high of nearly $4,650 an ounce and silver crossing the $90-an-ounce threshold for the first time. Gold was up 1% to $4,645 an ounce in recent trading, while silver surged to a record $91.80 an ounce.
Financial stocks declined for the second straight day Tuesday after President Donald Trump over the weekend suggested capping credit card interest rates at 10%. Payment processors Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) were among the biggest S&P 500 decliners yesterday, with shares down 4.5% and 3.8%, respectively, but both inched higher in premarket trading Wednesday.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) slipped less than 1% after the Trump administration approved the exporting of its H200 AI chips to China but said the world’s most valuable public company must meet new security requirements first.
Netflix (NFLX) stock rose about 1.5% following reports that the streaming giant was preparing to make its $72 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) HBO Max streaming service and studios all-cash, instead of a mix of cash and stock. Paramount Skydance (PSKY) has made a hostile all-cash offer of $77.9 billion for all of WBD, whose shares were little changed. Paramount shares edged lower.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose less than 1% to $61.60 a barrel.
Bitcoin was trading around $95,000, up slightly from the day’s low of roughly $94,100. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, ticked 0.1% lower to 99.07.
Source: www.investopedia.com
