By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
Tesla, Baidu drop in premarket, while Cisco climbs
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures jumped Thursday, as
oil prices rose, and markets took news of a cease-fire deal between
Russia and Ukraine as an excuse to push riskier assets higher.
But there was no real conclusion to the Greece-debt deadlock
after talks, and market gains could hinge on retail-sales data
coming later. Earnings news lifted shares of Cisco Systems Inc.,
but Tesla Motors Inc. slid, after each company reported results
Wednesday evening.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJH5) jumped 84
points, or 0.5%, to 17,916, while those for the S&P 500 index
(SPH5) rose 10.3 points, or 0.5%, to 2,076.
After overnight talks in Minsk, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a
cease-fire starting Sunday, news that gave the ruble a pop and
pushed stocks in Russia about 5% higher. European stocks also rose,
even as the situation over Greece's bid to negotiate new financing
remains unresolved. After six hours of negotiation in Brussels,
eurozone finance ministers kicked the can down the road, saying
they'd keep talking in coming days to try to come up with a
plan.
Headlines and data: Markets have largely been ignoring Ukraine
thus far, noted Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at
Russell Investments in London, in emailed comments. "And for the
U.S., it does not register really. I know the strong Cisco earnings
were well received, but that's it on the news front, really..."
But geopolitical headlines have been keeping stock markets
pinned down in recent sessions. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 (SPX)
closed flat at 2,068.53 in a choppy session. The index has
registered just a 0.6% gain for the week, which is nearly at an
end.
Data has the potential to move markets on Thursday. Weekly
jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. January
retail sales is coming at the same time, with December business
inventories at 10 a.m. Eastern. Investors want to know if consumers
are spending the money they're saving on lower gas prices, could
get an answer in the data.
"....some expect strong numbers on the energy windfall whereas
others think the windfall will be saved. If the latter is true that
would be a huge disappointment to markets," said Sturkenboom.
Also read: What Wal-Mart got right in Canada and what Target
botched
Stocks to watch: Tesla(TSLA) was shaping up for a wild ride.
Shares fell more than 7% in premarket trading after the
electric-car maker stunned Wall Street by reporting a
fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 13 cents a share. Chief Executive
Officer Elon Musk said Tesla's market cap may rocket to Apple's
(AAPL) level in 10 years.
See: Four takeaways from Tesla earnings
Shares of Cisco(CSCO) jumped nearly 9% in premarket after the
networking-technology company said fourth-quarter earnings nearly
doubled to $2.4 billion, or 46 cents a share.
Shares of Apple Inc.(AAPL) rose 1% in premarket trade. Carl
Icahn said Thursday that he believes the iPhone maker is actually
worth $216 a share, valuing the company at $1.3 trillion.
Whole Foods Markets Inc.(WFM) rose 2% in premarket after the
upscale grocer beat analysts' earnings forecasts.
Baidu Inc.(BIDU) sank 8% in premarket after the Chinese search
engine's outlook missed estimates.
Shares of Zulily Inc.(ZU) tanked 23% after an earnings and
outlook miss.
More companies report Thursday, including Kellogg Co.(K)(K) and
Pilgrim's Pride Corp.(PPC) ahead of the bell. After the close,
Groupon Inc.(GRPN) , Kraft Food Groups Inc.(KRFT) and American
International Group Inc. (AIG) will report.
Other markets: Oil prices (CLH5) shot up 3% to $50.39, and gold
(GCH5) also got a small pop. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index rallied
to a seven-year high as a weaker yen supported exporters.
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