FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

AI Outlook, Persian Gulf Dent Wall Street Pre-Bell; Asia Off, Europe Up

By

-- Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower pre-bell Tuesday on renewed concerns regarding AI-related capital outlays, as well as the ongoing stand-off in the Persian Gulf.

ChatGPT creator OpenAI has fallen short of targets for new users and revenue, raising market concerns whether heavy AI-sector capital spending will be validated in the future by revenue and profits, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

In the futures, the S&P 500 fell 0.2%, the Nasdaq declined 0.7% but the Dow Jones was up 0.2%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded up 3.6% at $99.85, as the Strait of Hormuz remained essentially closed to tanker traffic.

Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight, while European bourses inched north midday on the continent.

General Motors (GM) rose 5% pre-bell after reporting Q1 black ink that topped consensus, and raising guidance, in morning hours.

On the economic calendar is Case-Shiller Home Price Index and the FHFA House Price Index bulletins, both for February, at 9 am ET.

The Conference Board consumer confidence report for April, and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for April, post at 10 am.

In premarket action, Bitcoin traded at $76,608 and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.36%. Spot gold commanded $4,613 an ounce.

Related Articles

Equities

Sector Update: Energy

Energy stocks were higher premarket Tuesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) gaining 1.4%.The United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 3.3%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1% higher.Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 3.5% to $99.66 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil rose 2.4% to $104.20 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 0.6% lower at $2.71 per 1 million British Thermal Units.BP (BP) stock was more than 2% higher before the opening bell after the company reported higher Q1 underlying replacement cost profit and sales.

$BP$UNG$USO$XLE
International

February Case-Shiller US Home Price Index Rebounds From January Drop

The Case-Shiller National Home Price index rose by 0.3% in February before seasonal adjustment following a 0.2% decrease in January.The 10-city index rose by 0.6% in the month, while the 20-city index was up 0.4%.National home prices were up 0.7% year-over-year, down from a 0.8% annual gain in January."More than half of major U.S. metropolitan markets posted year-over-year price declines in February, signaling that the housing slowdown has broadened well beyond its Sun Belt origins," said Nicholas Godec, Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices.National home prices were up 0.1% month-over-month in February after seasonal adjustment, with the 10-city measure up 0.1% but the 20-city measure 0.1% lower.The monthly home price index report from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller measures single-family home prices across the US with a two-month lag, broken down by city, with combined measures of the 10 and 20 largest cities and a national index. Case-Shiller reports percentage gains both from the previous month and a year earlier.Higher home prices are inflationary and are usually negative for bonds. The possible outcome for housing-related stocks is mixed, as higher prices suggest strong demand, but prices that are accelerating too fast can also deter potential buyers.

International

February FHFA Home-Price Index Holds Steady, Below Expectations

The FHFA's measure of home prices held steady in February after an upwardly revised 0.2% increase in the previous month, below the 0.1% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET.Prices were up 1.7% from a year earlier in February.Sale prices were up in four of the nine regions from the previous month, down in four other regions and unchanged in the East North Central region.The monthly home price index report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency measures single-family home prices across the US with a two-month lag, broken down by region. The FHFA reports percentage gains both from the previous month and a year earlier.Higher home prices are inflationary and a negative for bonds. The outcome for housing-related stocks is mixed, as higher prices suggest strong demand, but prices that are accelerating too fast can also deter potential buyers.