Today's shows to watch: Stock futures are neutral as the market focuses on the Federal Reserve

ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS

In early Wednesday trade, futures were neutral as investors absorbed fresh retail earnings and anticipated minutes from the Federal Reserve meeting in July. Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped roughly 60 points, while the S&P 500 remained unchanged and the Nasdaq rose slightly. The swings follow the market's worst day in nearly a month on Tuesday, when the S&P 500 posted its worst performance in almost a month. The home market was also keeping an eye on new starts and building permits.

Bond rates increased modestly on Wednesday, despite the stock market's shaky opening and ahead of the Fed minutes. Investors in fixed income will be looking for evidence that the central bank is ready to start slowing down the pace of its monthly bond purchases, or tapering, as it is known in the industry. The news that tapering is expected to begin before the end of the year has had little impact on yields. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yielded 1.28 percent last night, up 2 basis points from the previous session.

Due to a busy back-to-school shopping season, several businesses surpassed profit projections, with Target also improving their prediction for the year. Lowe's also outperformed Wall Street expectations, despite same-store sales falling 1.6 percent in the quarter. Those findings mirrored those of Home Depot the day before, which indicated that the do-it-yourself frenzy that accompanied the outbreak is subsiding.
 

TODAY IN THE NEWS

The Taliban emphasized that women and members of the press will have rights under the newly elected government as evacuations from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport increased on Wednesday. According to Reuters, which cited an unnamed security official, more than 2,200 diplomats and other civilian staff had been evacuated aboard military flights thus far. Despite several claims of human rights breaches, a Taliban spokesman told reporters that “nobody will be harmed” while the country transforms.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index, mortgage applications for refinancing, which are particularly rate-sensitive, declined 5% last week from the previous week and were 8% lower than a year earlier. Mortgage rates are slightly lower than they were in August of last year, but not as low as they were in the fall of last year, when there was a little refi frenzy. Mortgage applications for house purchases, which are less affected by weekly rate changes, dipped 1% this week and were 19% lower than a year ago.

Lowe's (LOW ) announced a $4.25 per share adjusted quarterly profit, exceeding the average estimate of $4.01. Revenue exceeded expectations, and the 1.6 percent loss in same-store sales was less than the 2.2 percent dip projected by analysts. Lowe's also upgraded its full-year profitability forecast, citing increased expenditure by contractors and builders. In the premarket, Lowe's rose 4.3 percent.

Target (TGT) surpassed analyst expectations by 15 cents per share with adjusted quarterly earnings of $3.64 per share and sales that was slightly higher than expected. Sales at comparable stores increased 8.9%, slightly higher than the average expectation of 8.8%. Target shares fell 1.8 percent in premarket trade despite surpassing analyst expectations.

With an adjusted quarterly profit of 13 cents per share, Krispy Kreme (DNUT) fell a penny short of Street expectations, albeit revenue topped expectations. Based on forecasted increase from online ordering and additional menu options, the doughnut retailer also provided a better-than-expected revenue prediction. In premarket trading, the shares rose 2.9 percent.

In the premarket, Alcon (ALC) jumped 9.8% after the eyecare and surgical goods producer posted better-than-expected quarterly results and boosted its full-year expectations. Alcon's Vivity intraocular contact lens made its debut in the third quarter, and analysts believe it will help boost sales growth.

Moderna (MRNA) surged 1.6 percent in premarket trade, while BioNTech (BNTX) gained 1%, as the White House is expected to release a booster shot for Americans who have already been completely vaccinated against Covid-19.

Following an investigation, T-Mobile (TMUS) now claims that a recent data breach exposed the personal information of roughly 7.8 million consumers. Dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver's license numbers were stolen, but no financial information was taken.

In premarket trading, shares of media conglomerate Viacom (VIAC) rose 2.7 percent after Wells Fargo Securities upgraded the stock to “overweight” from “equal weight.” ViacomCBS is one of the businesses likely to benefit from industry consolidation, according to Wells Fargo, which is particularly impressed by the company's planned content slate for its Paramount+ streaming service.

BlackBerry (BB) announced that it has delivered software fixes to address a vulnerability with older versions of its QNX operating system, and that all users have been alerted. The software issue, according to US officials, may put autos and medical equipment in jeopardy. The shares of the communications software company rose 2.3 percent in premarket trading.

Tilray (TLRY) stock jumped 8.1 percent in premarket trade after the Canadian cannabis company agreed to buy $166 million in convertible notes from MedMen Enterprises in the United States. Although Canadian growers are unable to directly own a marijuana company in the United States, Tilray may stand to benefit from the acquisition if and when US rules change.

Agilent Technologies (A) rose 1.9 percent in premarket trading after exceeding top and bottom-line expectations for the most recent quarter and raising its full-year guidance. Agilent stated that its indicators were positive across the board, and that its non-Covid diagnostics business had rebounded to levels prior to the pandemic.