Here’s what we’re watching before Wednesday’s trading kicks off.
- U.S. stock futures wavered as major banks reported that profits soared in the recent quarter.
- Futures tied to the broad S&P 500 index were flat. Nasdaq-100 futures ticked up 0.2%. Read our full market wrap.
What’s Coming Up
- Shares of Coinbase Global, the largest bitcoin exchange in the U.S., are set to start trading Wednesday.
- Earnings are due from Shaw Communications and GreenTree Hospitality Group after the close.
Market Movers to Watch
- Expectations for bank earnings have been high, and shares of big banks were bouncing around after they kicked off earnings season with premarket reports. JPMorgan Chase fell 0.6% though its profit surged. Wells Fargo edged up 0.2%. Goldman Sachs however jumped 1.7% after it reported sharply higher profits.
- Bed Bath & Beyond shares sank more than 8% premarket after the retailer swung to a profit in the recent quarter but profits fell short of expectations.
- Cryptocurrencies across the board were getting a boost from enthusiasm over Coinbase’s market debut. Bitcoin hit a new record high of $64,801 apiece, ether traded as high as $2,398 and dogecoin—the meme cryptocurrency created as a joke—surged more than 80% to $0.14, according to CoinDesk. The rally in dogecoin came despite Coinbase not offering trading in it.
- Bitcoin miner Bit Digital also got in on the action, with its shares jumping 16% premarket.
- Oil majors ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum were both up premarket, by 0.9% and 2.8% respectively. The International Energy Agency on Wednesday raised its annual forecast for global oil demand in 2021. Earlier in the week, the OPEC increased its 2021 demand forecast by 100,000 barrels a day.
- Shares of Novocure slid 5.2% ahead of the bell, after ending Tuesday’s session up 50% on positive results for a cancer-treatment trial.
The Coinbase application on a smartphone, Jan. 4, 2021.
Photo:
Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg News
Market Facts
- The S&P 500 on Tuesday reached its 21st record close of 2021, having nudged up 0.3% to end the day at 4141.59.
- On this day in 1720, the first great secondary offering of stock took place, as the South Sea Co. opened its subscription books in London, hoping to raise 2 million pounds sterling. The company raised half that amount by 10 a.m., as mobs of eager buyers poured in. With ladies pawning jewelry and farmers selling livestock to raise the cash to buy shares, the offering was oversubscribed by more than 10%. It was even possible to “flip” the shares for an 8% profit on the first day.
Chart of the Day
Turkey’s new central bank governor faces a tough balancing act: fixing an embattled economy and winning back foreign investors while keeping President Erdogan happy.
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