Street Calls of the Week
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures are muted ahead of a slate of key economic indicators, with investors attempting to piece together the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory. Accenture and Jabil will highlight a slew of earnings before the opening bell, while President Donald Trump is reportedly set to sign an executive order on a potential deal regarding TikTok’s U.S. assets.
1. Futures subdued
U.S. stock futures hovered around the flatline on Thursday after equity markets retreated in the previous session.
By 03:44 ET (07:44 GMT), futures contracts linked to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were all mostly unchanged.
On Wednesday, the main averages on Wall Street slipped, taking a breather from a torrid recent rally. Investors were digesting cautious statements from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in which he provided no indication about the path ahead for interest rates following last week’s 25-basis point drawdown in borrowing costs.
Markets were also pouring through blockbuster new U.S. single-family home sales data for August, with analysts suggesting the figures could be interpreted as a sign of a robust economy that may not need the additional support of Fed rate reductions. Attention is now turning to the release of a key inflation reading on Friday that is closely monitored by the central bank.
Shares of Micron, meanwhile, dipped by 2.8%, despite the chipmaker unveiling solid quarterly returns and upbeat financial guidance. Observers said the decline could point to wariness over an artificial intelligence-driven spike in valuations for many tech sector names.
2. Accenture to report
Accenture is due to be one of the headliners of a slew of corporate earnings prior to the opening bell on Thursday.
The consultancy is seen posting fourth-quarter adjusted per-share earnings of $3.00 on revenue of $17.36 billion, while guiding for current-quarter revenue of $18.46 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
In focus will likely be Accenture’s view of the impact of AI, with the firm having made consulting on the technology a priority to help offset wider economic uncertainty sparked by sweeping U.S. tariffs. Generative AI bookings came in at roughly $1.5 billion in the last quarter and total bookings -- a gauge of future revenue secured through contracts -- stood at $19.70 billion.
CFO Angie Park said in June that a slowdown in government spending will hit fiscal fourth-quarter and annual revenues by 2%.
3. Jabil earnings ahead
Joining Accenture on the list of pre-open reports will be electronics component manufacturer Jabil.
Shares of the Florida-headquartered group and Apple supplier have surged by more than 57% so far this year, fueled by optimism around demand for infrastructure services around data centers.
Companies have been racing to fold AI into their operations, driving a need for the data centers that underpin the computing power behind the technology.
Jabil said earlier this year that it would plug $500 million in investments into the U.S. over the next "several" years in a bid to support cloud and AI infrastructure clients.
Fiscal fourth-quarter core per-share profit and net revenue are seen at $2.92 and $7.58 billion, respectively, Bloomberg estimates showed.
4. Trump to sign TikTok deal executive order - reports
Elsewhere, U.S. President Donald Trump is anticipated to sign an executive order on Thursday which will declare that a deal being negotiated by the White House on TikTok’s U.S. operations will meet the parameters put down in a 2024 law, Reuters has reported.
Citing a source with knowledge of the matter, the news service said the order will include yet another extension to a deadline for the short-form video app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. assets or be shut down in the country.
Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of this law, which was passed by Congress in 2024, arguing that it will give his administration more time to find American investors and ensure that the new ownership of TikTok U.S. complies with the legislation.
Media reports have said a preliminary agreement will see existing investors -- such as trading firm Susquehanna International -- and a consortium of U.S. backers including software giant Oracle and private-equity name Silver Lake own around 80% of the TikTok’s U.S. business. Notably, a revamped version of TikTok’s all-important algorithm would be retrained, but the service will remain available on the same app.
5. Gold steadies
Gold prices held steady, with a marginally-weaker U.S. dollar lending support to the yellow metal as investors geared up for the release of more economic data this week.
The figures could shed more light on the path ahead for U.S. interest rates. Lower borrowing costs can reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, burnishing the attractiveness of gold.
Weekly jobless claims due later on Thursday are expected to come in around 230,000. The government’s second estimate of second-quarter GDP will also be released on Thursday.
The underlying reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation gauge closely tracked by the Fed, for August is seen coming in at 0.2% month-on-month.
Spot gold was last up 0.4% at $3,750.99 an ounce by 03:43 ET, after retreating from Tuesday’s all-time peak of $3,790.82/oz. U.S. Gold Futures for December edged up 0.3% to $3,780.80.