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Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed on Wednesday night after the index broke a four-day win streak.
Dow futures slipped 16 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3%, boosted higher by shares of Micron Technology.
The semiconductor manufacturer was trading 14% higher in Wednesday's extended trading session after issuing strong guidance for the current quarter. Results for its fiscal fourth quarter also topped analysts' estimates. Fellow semiconductor-linked stocks Applied Materials and Lam Research both rose 4% in sympathy.
In regular trading, both the S&P 500 and the Dow retreated from their records to close lower. The broad market benchmark lost 0.19%, while the blue-chip average sank 0.70%. Both indexes had hit fresh all-time highs earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend by inching up 0.04%.
Tom Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, pinned some of Wednesday's volatility on the upcoming presidential election.
"What stocks do in the next month is a bit of a coin flip, and I think that's what we're seeing, because there's some repositioning that took place and also we're now thinking about the 40 days into the election," he said on CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Wednesday afternoon. "A lot [of investors] don't want to commit capital until after Election Day. I don't think it matters who wins; they just want to get that event behind them."
Despite Wednesday's losses, all three major averages are still tracking to end September higher.
The next potential catalyst awaiting traders is the weekly jobless claims report, which is due Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones anticipate 223,000 initial unemployment claims were filed for the week ending Sept. 21. The final reading of second-quarter gross domestic product is also out in the morning.
Several Federal Reserve officials are also slated to speak on Thursday, including Chair Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams.
CarMax and Accenture are set to report earnings before the opening bell, followed by Costco Wholesale in the afternoon.
Nvidia has the ‘worst’ investing odds among the Magnificent Seven, says Aswath Damodaran
The odds may be against Nvidia when it comes to investing, according to New York University's Aswath Damodaran.
"With Nvidia, the odds are against you because of how high a price you're paying," the "Dean of Valuation" told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Wednesday. During Wednesday's session, Nvidia shares rose more than 2% to a closing price of $123.51, passing $3 trillion in market capitalization.
"Nvidia is the perfect momentum play in either direction," he continued, saying that's because it has nothing to do with fundamentals or the state of the business. "If you're a trader, I can see why Nvidia is going to be where you're going, but as an investor, I think the worst odds are with Nvidia."
Moving forward, Damodaran believes that expectations for the chip darling must eventually be "reset."
"You've priced this company to be the most amazing company of all time," he said. "Where's the upside left? If it's just amazing rather than the most amazing company, that's a disappointment, so I think this is something you're going to see the back-and-forth on in terms of expectations."
— Sean Conlon
Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Micron Technology, H.B. Fuller and more
These are the stocks moving the most in extended hours trading:
- Micron Technology — The semiconductor manufacturer soared 13% after issuing strong guidance for the current quarter.
- H.B. Fuller — The adhesives company fell nearly 10%. H.B. Fuller's adjusted earnings in the fiscal third quarter came in at $1.13 per share on revenue of $918 million.
- Concentrix — Shares plunged 14%. The customer experience solutions company posted fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.87 per share, while analysts were looking for $2.93 per share, according to FactSet.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
English (US) ·