US stocks showed mixed signals in premarket trading on Thursday. Futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.1% before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. Shares of major US airlines fell after American Airlines posted strong profits but anticipated a loss in the first quarter.
This led to a 7.5% drop in its shares before markets opened. United Airlines, which reported strong results after markets closed on Wednesday, declined by 2.2%. JetBlue fell 2.5% and Southwest dipped 1.6%.
Both companies are set to report their latest results next week. On the other hand, the health insurance sector saw gains. Elevance Health rose 5.5% after surpassing Wall Street’s sales and profit targets and increasing its dividend.
Cigna climbed 3.8%, UnitedHealth Group gained 1.6%, and CVS Health inched up 1.3%. Video game maker Electronic Arts plummeted by more than 17% after releasing preliminary results that disappointed investors. The company cited an unexpected drop in bookings in its global football division as the main factor.
GE Aerospace surged 5.5% after significantly exceeding Wall Street’s sales and profit expectations. Investors are also awaiting the latest government report on jobless benefit applications. These are expected to remain within the healthy range they’ve sustained for years.
us stocks showing mixed premarket signals
In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX gained 0.3%, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.4%, and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up about 0.2%. China introduced new measures to boost confidence in its stock markets.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced that Chinese pension funds and mutual funds would increase share purchases. Listed companies would also be encouraged to carry out more stock buybacks and raise dividends. As a result, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.5% at 3,230.16.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.4% to 19,700.56. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8% to 39,958.87. Fuji TV shares dropped 7.8% following the resignation of Masahiro Nakai, a top TV host embroiled in a sexual assault scandal.
Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6% to 8,378.70, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.2% to 2,515.49, India’s Sensex rose 0.3%, and Thailand’s SET lost 0.7%. In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin was priced just below $102,000, according to CoinDesk. In energy trading, US benchmark crude oil added 17 cents to $75.61 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 20 cents to $79.20 per barrel. The dollar declined to 156.38 Japanese yen from 156.43 yen. The euro ticked down to $1.0404 from $1.0411.
Investors continue to monitor economic events, awaiting new developments that could impact markets.