S&P 500 futures edge higher as stocks aim for longest winning streak since 2004

What’s driving markets

The S&P 500 index was heading for a ninth-straight daily advance on Thursday, with futures edging higher ahead of the open.

According to FactSet data, the last time it recorded a nine-day winning streak was Nov. 5, 2004.

But investors must first face some potentially market-moving news on Thursday, including comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Ahead of the bell on Thursday, traders digested the latest report on the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits. It showed that initial jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 217,000 last week. That suggests that layoffs aren’t on the rise, even as the pace of job creation slowed in October, according to data released last week.

Stock investors were also keeping a close eye on the Treasury market. Concerns that a large slug of government debt might meet a lukewarm reception from the market have eased following a mixed but nevertheless well-received $40 billion sale of 10-year paper on Wednesday.

The Treasury will look to sell $24 billion of 30-year bonds at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

“The bond market seemed to absorb the auction without sparking renewed concerns about oversupply, supporting the prevailing trend of lower yields, particularly in longer-duration assets,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

The S&P 500 has gained 6.45% during its eight-day winning streak after the 10-year Treasury yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
plunged from a 16-year peak around 5% to below 4.5% midweek on signs of a cooling U.S. jobs market, according to FactSet data.

Traders are keen to hear what Powell might have to say about this rapid pullback in yields after the Fed’s latest policy statement implied that, in the view of the central bank, rising yields would ease some of the pressure to keep hiking rates.

Powell will speak at an International Monetary Fund panel on global monetary policy challenges, due to start at 2 p.m.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond president Thomas Barkin is also due to speak, in an MNI webcast on the economic and policy outlook, starting at 11 a.m.

On the earnings front, shares of Tapestry
TPR,
+6.28%
declined after the parent of the Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman missed revenue estimates. Investors also digested earnings from Novavax
NVAX,
+2.91%.

After the close Plug Power
PLUG,
+1.67%,
the energy technology group, and Wynn Resorts
WYNN,
+0.70%,
the casino operator, will present their numbers.

Companies in focus

• Walt Disney Co.’s
  DIS,
  +5.15%
  stock jumped 4% in premarket trade after the media company reported a spike in streaming customers and better-than-expected earnings.

• AstraZeneca PLC
  AZN,
  +1.89%
  increased 2% after the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker upped its earnings forecast for 2023 following a surge in sales of cancer medicines.

• Lyft Inc.
  LYFT,
  -5.32%
  on Wednesday reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s estimates and forecast fourth-quarter sales growth that was better than expected. But shares of the ride-hailing platform fell 2%.

• AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s
  AMC,
  -19.00%
  strong third-quarter results lifted U.S. movie theater stocks Thursday. The movie theater chain and meme stock darling swung to profit and reported positive net income for the second straight quarter after market close Wednesday.