Gap, Occidental Petroleum, Smith & Wesson: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today

Futures linked to the S&P 500 edged down 0.4%. The S&P 500 is on track for its third week of declines. It was down 1.1% for the week by the end of Thursday, and closed at its lowest level since the end of January.

—Treasury yields posted gentle rises after Thursday’s surge. The latest climb in yields came after Federal Reserve Chairman

Jerome Powell

provided no sign the central bank would seek to stem the rise when he spoke at The Wall Street Journal Jobs Summit.

What’s Coming Up

—U.S. nonfarm payrolls in February, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, are expected to rise by 210,000 from a month earlier and the unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 6.3%. U.S. consumer credit figures are out at 3 p.m.

Market Movers to Watch

—

Occidental Petroleum

climbed 3.1% premarket, as the oil-and-gas producer’s stock followed crude prices higher.

Chevron

and

Exxon Mobil

were among the leading gainers as well, adding 2.3% and 2.1% respectively.

—

Tesla

shares have hit the brakes, and on Friday are down 1.3% premarket, putting the stock on course for its fourth straight weekly decline. That would be its longest weekly losing streak since May 2019.

—

Gap

shares jumped 4.7% premarket. The clothing retailer’s executives said consumers are eager to buy the kinds of apparel that they have been able to forgo during much of the pandemic, predicting a rebound in sales in the second half of the year.

—

Smith & Wesson

shot 2% higher premarket. The gunmaker shipped 500,000 handguns and more than 100,000 rifles in the quarter to Jan. 31, more than double the year-ago period.

—

Costco

shares are down 1.3% ahead of the bell. The wholesale retail chain’s sales climbed again as Americans continue to shop for food and goods for the home during the pandemic.

—

Broadcom

shares dropped 1.9%. The semiconductor and software company generated about $3 billion in free cash flow in the latest period and ended the quarter with about $7.62 billion in cash.

Market Fact

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.02%, mortgage-finance giant

Freddie Mac

said Thursday. It is the first time the rate on America’s most popular home loan has risen above 3% since July and the fifth consecutive week it has increased or held steady.

Chart of the Day

Amid the rout in Treasurys, fixed-income investors are turning to corporate loans, equity-linked debt and even stocks.

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