Stock Market Today: Stocks higher on Tesla boost; Treasury yields ease

24 Oct 2024, 09:53 by Martin Baccardax · The Fresno Bee

U.S. equity futures moved higher in early Thursday trading, while Treasury yields paused their long monthly acceleration, as investors looked to snap a four-day losing streak on Wall Street.

Stocks ended lower again last night, with the S&P 500 falling nearly 1%, as another leg higher in Treasury yield sapped risk appetite and megacap heavyweights Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA) pulled on major indices.

Bonds have dictated much of the broader market direction this week, with a key reading of Treasury volatility hitting a year-to-date high as investors worry about the inflationary impact of a victory from either Presidential candidate and worry that America's $36 trillion debt burden is starting to factor-in to foreign investor calculations.

A dead heat in this year's Presidential race has triggered a spike in volatility in the bond market and renewed worries over America's $36 trillion debt burden.Image source: TheStreetTheStreet

Benchmark 10-year note yields, which hit a three-month high of 4.26% yesterday, eased to 4.196% in overnight dealing, with 2-year notes falling modestly to 4.053%.

Some of the pullback was tied to yesterday's Beige Book, a reading of growth and inflation estimates from Federal Reserve banks across the country, which showed steady gains and moderating price pressures.

"On balance, economic activity was little changed in nearly all Districts since early September, though two Districts reported modest growth," the Beige Book summary read.

The U.S. dollar index was also moving lower, peeling back from its own three-month high to trade at 104.163 heading into the start of the New York session.

On Wall Street, stocks are looking for a boost from both the bond market pullback and stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings from Magnificent 7 peer Tesla (TSLA) , which topped analysts' forecasts last night while issuing a bullish production and demand forecast.

Shares in the group were last marked 10.9% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $237.01 each.

On the flip side, however, Boeing (BA) shares fell 2.55% to $153.05 each, weighing heavily on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after the planemaker's machinists' union voted against a labor contract agreed last weekend.

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 are priced for a 24 point opening bell gain, with the Dow called 44 points lower and the Nasdaq getting an early boost of around 146 points.

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In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marked 0.54% higher in early Frankfurt trading amid the busiest earnings day of the year, with around 10% of the benchmark reporting third quarter updates.

Britain's FTSE 100, meanwhile, rose 0.67% in London on the back of a stronger-than-expected earnings report from Barclays bank and a broader move higher in global commodity prices.

Overnight in Asia, the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index was marked 0.62% lower heading into the close of trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% higher to snap a three-session losing streak.

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