Stocks were higher on Thursday, as investors digested solid earnings results and better-than-expected economic data.
Futures on the
rose 146 points, or 0.4%. The
was indicated to open up 0.5%, with the
indicated to open 0.7% higher.
Investors will be sifting through the earnings from
(ticker: C) and
(BAC), as well as Delta Air Lines (DAL). Market participants are looking for banks to release some cash previously set aside to absorb credit losses from hurting consumers and businesses as well as strengthening lending fundamentals. Citigroup shares were up 3% premarket, while Bank of America shares added 0.7%.
As for airlines, investors want to see improving air traffic and ticket prices. Delta shares rose 0.7% premarket.
Also powering stocks higher was strong economic data. Retail sales for March rose 9.8%, better than the expected 6.1%. Initial jobless claims for the past week were 576,000, lighter than the expected 710,000 and lower than last week’s reading of 769,000.
Here were some notable stock movers:
(WRI) shares rose 8% as it announced plans to merge with
(KIM).
Dell Technologies (DELL) shares rose 8% after the company announced its plan to spin off its ownership stake in
(VMW).
(VIAC) shares rose 1%. The stock has been caught up in forced selling from hedge fund Archegos Capital.
(NVDA) shares rose 2% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to Strong Buy from Outperform.
(UPS) shares rose 1.5% after Barclays upgraded the stock to Equalweight from Underweight.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
