Trading on Wall Street was quietly mixed before the opening bell Wednesday as markets hovered around record highs. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially unchanged from Tuesday's close.
KB Home tumbled more than 6% in premarket after the homebuilder missed Wall Street profit expectations as demand softened early in the summer. The Los Angeles company noted that orders picked up in August as mortgage rates came down.
SAP fell 2.3% after Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the German software giant for conspiring with the American company Carahsoft Technology to overcharge U.S. government agencies. Other companies are also being investigated, according to the report.
Online fashion styling service Stitch Fix slid 25% in off-hours trading after it posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. Shares in the San Francisco company, which traded above $100 each early in the pandemic, are poised to open below $3.
Global markets had surged after Beijing announced a flurry of measures aimed at reviving the housing market after a prolonged downturn. That news also boosted prices for oil, copper, and other commodities. However, the cheer brought on by news of a coordinated effort to rev up growth in the world’s second-largest economy appeared to dissipate as the day wore on.
Germany's DAX lost 0.4% to 18,915.00 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.5% to 7,563.77. In London, the FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher, to 8,290.08.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.7% to 19,129.10 after jumping 1.8% earlier in the day and gaining more than 4% the day before. The Shanghai Composite index was 1.2% higher at 2,896.31.
Chinese policymakers are implementing measures to fight off deflation and stimulate growth, with the long-term effectiveness remaining uncertain, according to market analysts.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.2% to 37,870.26, while South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3% to 2,596.32. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,126.40.
The Federal Reserve's recent decision to lower interest rates to support the U.S. economy has positively impacted markets. Inflation has eased from previous highs, but concerns about a slowdown in hiring by U.S. companies persist.
U.S. households expressed increased worries about the job market, leading to a decline in overall confidence levels in September. This is significant as consumer spending drives the U.S. economy.
In early Wednesday trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil was down 90 cents at $70.66 per barrel. Brent crude lost 79 cents to $73.68 per barrel. The dollar rose against the Japanese yen and the euro climbed slightly.
Gold prices continued to surge, reaching $2,681.10 per ounce. On Tuesday, U.S. stocks reached new records, with the S&P 500 closing at 5,732.93 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 42,208.22.
