Early Look

Monday, March 17, 2025

After surging on Friday, helping pare weekly losses, S&P futures are looking lower ahead of the FOMC rate meeting midweek where interest rates are expected to remain on hold. Last week the S&P finished lower by -2.27%, the Nasdaq -2.43%, the Dow -3.07% and the Russell 2000 -1.51%. U.S. stock futures declined Sunday night after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he’s not worried about a market downturn, despite a recent 10% decline in stocks. “I’ve been in the investment business for 35 years,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press. ”And I can tell you that corrections are healthy. They’re normal.” Also, President Donald Trump said he would be imposing both broad reciprocal tariffs and additional sector-specific tariffs on April 2. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady when it meets this week, but investors will be watching for something else — any sign that President Trump’s policies are changing the central bank’s future expectations for the economy. The Fed’s latest round of projections released Wednesday will include the much-studied “dot plot,” a chart updated quarterly that shows each Fed official’s prediction about the direction of the central bank’s benchmark interest rate. In technology, chip maker and AI “face” Nvidia (NVDA) will be holding its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this week.

In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 343 points to 37,396, the Shanghai Index rose 6 points to 3,426, and the Hang Seng Index jumped 185 points to 24,145. Chinese stocks were given a boost Monday after Beijing outlined a plan to “vigorously boost” consumption and economic data revealing a surprisingly robust start to the year. The extensive 30-point plan, announced Sunday, aims to “stimulate domestic demand across the board and increase spending power by raising earnings and reducing financial burdens,” the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said Sunday. It also includes measures to stabilize the stock market and develop more bond products for individual investors. In Europe, the German DAX is up 67 points to 23,054, while the FTSE 100 is up 20 points to 8,652.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 674.62 points, or 1.65%, to 41,488.19
• The Nasdaq Composite surged 451.07 points, or 2.61%, to 17,754.09
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 50.40 points, or 2.53% to 2,044.10

• 8:30 AM ET                  Retail Sales M/M for February
• 8:30 AM ET                  Retail Sales Ex; Autos M/M for February
• 10:00 AM ET NAHB Housing Market Index for March
• 10:00 AM ET                Business Inventories for January

• Earnings After the Close: AMPS BKKT FGEN GETY HYPR KODK LPRO NGS QTRX SGMO

• Oppenheimer 35th Annual Healthcare MedTech & Services Conference, 3/17-3/20
• Piper 25^th Annual Energy Conference, 3/17-3/19, in Las Vegas, NV
• 37th Annual Roth Conference, 3/17-3/18, in Dana Point, CA

• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated its interim outlook that global growth is on course to slow slightly from 3.2% in 2024 to 3.1% in 2025 and 3.0% in 2026, cutting its projections from 3.3% for both this year and next in its previous economic outlook, issued in December.

• Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

• National Grid (NGG) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein saying despite its U.S. peers seeing a re-rating over the past year, National Grid has not re-rated and continues to trade at a discount to European regulated network peers.
• Southern California Edison (EIX) is investigating whether an idle power line sparked the deadly Eaton fire in Los Angeles, a rare occurrence that could have major liability implications for the utility, WSJ reports.

• Blackstone (BX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Capital One Financial (COF) February domestic credit card net charge-offs rate 6.35 %; 30+ day performing delinquencies rate for domestic credit cards 4.52% at February end; February auto net charge-offs rate 1.48%; 30+ day performing delinquencies rate for auto 5.02% at February end.
• JPMorgan (JPM) reported charge-offs for February of 1.68% and delinquencies 0.91%.
• SL Green Realty (SLG) upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI.

• Bater (BAYRY) said it won FDA priority review for its application seeking expanded approval of its kidney-disease drug Kerendia in certain people with heart failure.
• Cidara Therapeutics (CDTX) announced the publication of preclinical data assessing CD388, the company’s influenza DFC, in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Microbiology.

• Monday.com (MNDY) upgraded to Buy at DA Davidson.
• Netflix (NFLX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson with a $1,100 price target.