US Stocks: Nasdaq futures rise on Netflix boost Nasdaq futures rose on Friday, after Netflix kicked off the earnings season for the growth sector on a positive note, but worries about a US recession kept a lid on sentiment. Shares of Netflix Inc jumped 5.7% in premarket trading, after the streaming company added more subscribers than expected in the fourth quarter and said co-founder Reed Hastings was stepping down as chief executive. Alphabet Inc was the latest to join the list as it said it was cutting 12,000 jobs on Friday. Shares of the company rose 1.7%. Also read: NSE Bulk deals, January 19: OMINFRAL, ALPA, DUCOL and other major deals that took place on Thursday Wall Street’s main indexes ended the previous session lower after resilient labor market data renewed concerns the Federal Reserve would continue its aggressive rate-hiking cycle that could tip the economy into a recession. Recent commentary from various Fed officials has pointed to a terminal rate above 5%, while the money market participants still bet rates peaking at 4.9% by June and see a 93.7% chance for a 25-basis point rate hike in February. “We had encouraging data which showed inflationary pressures falling, which suggests that the Fed may not have to tighten as far or as aggressively. That is good for equities generally, but if we’re going to get a mild recession, that’s not good for earnings,” said Stuart Cole, Equiti Capital’s head macroeconomist. “Overall we’re just seeing uncertainty being reflected in the kind of mixed message we’re getting from futures this morning.” On the earnings front, State Street Corp and Ally Financial Inc will report their fourth-quarter results later in the day. Also read: FII DII data: FPI bought shares worth Rs 399.98 crore, DII sold shares worth Rs 128.96 crore on Jan 19 At 6:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 7 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 43.5 points, or 0.38%. The S&P 500 has lost 2.5% so far in the week and the Nasdaq is down more than 2%. The Dow is down 3.67% and is on track for its worst week since September. Investors will monitor existing home sales data, which is expected to show a moderation in the sales of existing homes in December. The report is due at 10 a.m. ET. Also on the radar are comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Board Governor Christopher Waller.
The move had also prompted the country’s largest organised retailer Reliance Retail to step into the value retail segment with Yousta, which was announced on Thursday. Like Intune, Yousta began its operations in Hyderabad, with plans to expand across the country. Intune has three stores – two in Hyderabad and one in Dombivli, near Mumbai, with plans to add another three more outlets in the coming months.
Nair had admitted on a recent earnings call that the apparel segment in general was witnessing moderation and that the value retail foray by Shoppers Stop could help the company tap into the growing trend for affordable fashion and lifestyle products, aiding sales growth.
That was an important statement for Shoppers Stop, which reported a nearly 37% year-on-year drop in net profit to Rs 14.5 crore in the June quarter of FY24, even as revenue grew only 4.8% versus the previous year to nearly Rs 994 crore.
On a yearly basis, the company had last reported a net profit of nearly Rs 114 crore in FY23 after three consecutive years of loss between FY20 and FY22 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. FY23 topline also jumped nearly 60% year-on-year to Rs 4,022 crore, the highest in six years, its results showed.