US Stocks Likely To Open Higher Ahead Of Festive Weekend: 'Current Equity Levels Offer An Attractive Entry Opportunity'

U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday ahead of the long weekend, with Good Friday falling on April 18 and Easter Sunday on April 20. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher in premarket.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dismissed the possibility of a “Fed put” in the near term while speaking in Chicago on Wednesday.

“We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension. If that were to occur, we would consider how far the economy is from each goal, and the potentially different time horizons over which those respective gaps would be anticipated to close,” said Powell.

U.S. export restrictions on Nvidia Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:NVDA) H20 GPUs pulled the stock market down on Wednesday.

The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.32% and the two-year bond was at 3.82%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 86.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its May meeting.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 1.03% to $531.05, while the QQQ advanced 1.04% to $448.78, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday, driven by a significant sell-off in the semiconductor sector and broader tech weakness.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) experienced a steep decline, with Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) both falling approximately 7% following new export restrictions on Nvidia chips to China.

This news heavily impacted the information technology sector, which, along with consumer discretionary and communication services, recorded the largest losses. In contrast, energy stocks defied the overall downward trend, closing higher.

Among individual companies, Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE:TRV) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) posted upbeat first-quarter adjusted EPS.

On the economic front, U.S. industrial production fell by 0.3% in March, slightly more than anticipated. However, U.S. retail sales surged 1.4% month-over-month in March, exceeding both the previous month’s gain and market expectations.

Insights From Analysts:

According to Scott Wren, the senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo, “current equity levels offer an attractive entry opportunity even with the bounce higher off the recent lows.”

Wren further emphasized the importance of having a “plan of action or at least be happy with where you currently stand,” regardless of individual perspectives on the implemented tariffs.

“Over the course of the last couple of weeks, we have seen the administration go from an aggressive reciprocal tariff strategy that involved meaningful universal tariffs on virtually all of our trading partners to a pause that suspends most reciprocal tariffs but leaves a 145% levy on imports from China,” Wren notes.

Despite the tariff uncertainty, Wren’s firm maintains a view that the U.S. economy was already heading for a slowdown in the first half of the year, even before the current trade strategies were implemented. “From our perspective, even before the current tariff strategies were deployed, our analysis suggested the economy was going to hit a bump in the road and slow in the first half of this year. That line of thought is still intact,” Wren states.

Wren also suggests a strategic shift in fixed income, advising investors to “move money from bonds, specifically the intermediate portion of the yield curve, into mid-cap U.S. equities in an effort to take advantage of the fall in stocks and the rally in bond prices (yields fell).”

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar is facing pressure, with its “reserve currency” status. A recent study titled ‘Dollar Upheaval: This Time is Different’ noted a 3.6% depreciation between April 4th and 14th, an unusual move as the dollar typically gains during global volatility.

This suggests a break from traditional market behavior, raising concerns that U.S. Treasuries lose their safe-haven appeal.

"If U.S. Treasuries are no longer viewed as the world's preferred safe asset, then the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency may be called into question,” stated the note.

Investors are now flocking to Gold, which has been hitting fresh highs as it trades above $3,300 per ounce. According to data shared by Charlie Bilello of Creative Planning, the inflation-adjusted gold prices were back at an all-time high, after 45 years, surpassing the prior peak from 1980.

Economist Mohamed El-Erian attributed the increasing price of gold to a gradual shift away from the U.S. dollar by some foreign central banks and other entities seeking diversification.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Thursday and Friday:

• On Thursday, initial jobless claims data for the week ending April 12 and March’s housing starts, building permits, and April’s Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey data will be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.

• On Friday, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will speak at 8:00 a.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) fell 0.64% in premarket on Thursday as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts expect a quarterly earnings of $7.29 per share on revenue of $111.60 billion.

• DR Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI) rose 0.39% as Wall Street expects it to report earnings of $2.65 per share on revenue of $8.03 billion before the opening bell.

• Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) was up 1.38% as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts expect a quarterly earnings of $5.72 per share on revenue of $10.52 billion.

• FNB Corp. (NYSE:FNB) was up 1.14% as it posted better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) jumped 3.45% after reporting a 60% surge in its net profit for the first quarter, topping market expectations.

• Rio Tinto Plc ADR (NYSE:RIO) climbed 1.68% after it announced the assessment of the low-carbon aluminum project in India along with AMG Metals & Materials.

• Woodside Energy Group Ltd. ADR (NYSE:WDS) advanced 2.73% after signing LNG supply agreements with Uniper.

• BP PLC (NYSE:BP) gained 1.08%, and Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) was 4.22% higher after BP completed loading the first cargo from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 1.02% to hover around $63.11 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar declined 0.57% to hover around $3,324.20 per ounce. Its fresh record high stood at $3,357.81 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was higher by 0.10% at the 99.4760 level.

Asian markets advanced on Wednesday, except China’s CSI 300 index. India's S&P BSE Sensex, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei 225, Australia's ASX 200, and South Korea's Kospi index ended higher. European markets were lower in early trade.

Read Next:

• Policy Push vs. Market Pull: Dollar Under Pressure As ‘Reserve Currency May Be Called Into Question’ Amid Tariff Turmoil

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