Stock market today: Live updates

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Tuesday he would like to have more good data on the inflation front before cutting rates.

“The economy now appears to be moving closer to what the Committee expected,” he said. “Nevertheless, absent a significant weakening of the labor market, I need several more months of good inflation data before I am comfortable supporting an easing of monetary policy.”

—Fred Imbert

Check out some of the companies making headlines when it comes to pre-market trading.

• Macy’s — The department store operator added about 3% after beating first-quarter profit estimates and raising its outlook for the full year. Macy’s presented its recovery plan as one of the drivers of these good results.

• Lowe’s — Home improvement stock rose more than 2% after the company’s first-quarter results beat estimates. Lowe’s reported earnings per share of $3.06 on revenue of $21.36 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings per share of $2.94 on revenue of $21.12 billion.

• AutoZone — Shares of the auto parts retailer fell more than 2% after third-quarter revenue missed analysts’ estimates. AutoZone reported revenue of $4.24 billion, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $4.29 billion. The company’s third-quarter profit of $36.69 per share beat estimates of $36.02.

Read the full list here.

—Brian Evans

Stock markets have reached record highs in recent days and, according to Deutsche Bank, there are good reasons for this trend to continue.

In a recent note, macroeconomic strategist Henry Allen highlighted several factors that should cause investors to be optimistic.

On the one hand, investors have already rebounded stocks after last week’s CPI reading, which is still above target with an annualized growth rate of 3.6%. With that in mind, it stands to reason that if inflation numbers fall from target, investors could show increased optimism to send stocks soaring again.

Weaker-than-expected economic data could also boost the market by increasing the chances of a rate cut, such as the April jobs report. The market continued to recover, despite figures slightly below expectations.

Additionally, Allen wrote that globally, “rate cuts are increasingly visible globally.” This, combined with “very accommodative” financial conditions for stocks, currently creates an extremely favorable environment for the markets.

—Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of Macy’s gained 2.6% in premarket trading. The department store chain reported first-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street expectations, thanks to early progress in its turnaround strategy. It also raised its profit expectations for the full year.

Macy’s reported adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share, beating the LSEG consensus estimate of 15 cents. On the other hand, adjusted revenue of $4.85 billion was lower than the expected $4.86 billion.

Nonetheless, the retailer said in a statement that it “assumes customers will continue to exercise discretion in their discretionary purchases.”

— Sarah Min, Mélissa Repko

Shares of Lowe’s rose more than 2% in premarket trading after the home improvement retailer reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The company earned $3.06 per share on revenue of $21.36 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $2.94 per share on LSEG’s revenue of $21.12 billion.

Same-store sales, a key metric for retailers, fell 4.1%, less than the consensus expectation of a 5.5% decline.

—Fred Imbert

China’s urban unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 fell to 14.7% in April, from 15.3% in March.

Data from the country’s statistics office indicates that this figure excludes those still in school, according to a definition revised from December 2023.

China revamped its definition of youth unemployment after the government stopped publishing data in June 2023, with the unemployment rate surpassing a record high of more than 21%.

-Lim Hui Jie

Shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto plunged as much as 25% on Tuesday after the electric vehicle maker reported disappointing first-quarter results.

The stock was the biggest loser on the Hang Seng Index after its biggest one-day decline since March 2022.

Li Auto reported revenue of 25.6 billion yuan ($3.5 billion), down 38.6% from the fourth quarter of 2023, but up 36.4% year-on-year . Revenue missed analysts’ average estimate of 26.73 billion yuan.

Vehicle deliveries in the first quarter also fell to 80,400 from 131,805 in the final quarter of 2023.

The Reserve Bank of Australia considered raising rates at its May meeting, according to central bank meeting minutes.

Members noted that Australia’s inflation had fallen less than expected and that international economic growth and inflation were beating expectations.

RBA board members also agreed that economic news since the April meeting had increased the risks that inflation would stay above target for longer.

The RBA, however, left the spot rate unchanged at 4.35%.

-Lim Hui Jie

South Korean chip giant Samsung Electronics has named Young Hyun Jun as the new head of its semiconductor unit, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Samsung said the move was a “preventive measure to strengthen future competitiveness,” according to the report.

Jun served as general manager of Samsung’s battery business, Samsung SDI.

—Lim Hui Jie, Reuters

The closely watched VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped more than 2% on Monday to close at a record high of 235.00.

The ETF benefited from support from Nvidia, which jumped about 2.5% as Wall Street anticipated the chip giant’s next earnings report on Wednesday afternoon.

Ahead of the results, Baird reiterated his Buy rating on the stock and raised his price target from $1,050 to $1,200. Meanwhile, tech investor Dan Niles said Nvidia is cheap heading into earnings.

It was also a good day for Broadcom, up 1.3%, and Qualcomm, which posted a 2% gain. Micron Technology ended Monday with a nearly 3% advance.

–Darla Mercado, Gina Francolla

Here are some of the stocks that made notable moves after the bell:

• Palo Alto Networks — Shares fell 8.5%. Despite better-than-expected results on both fronts for the fiscal third quarter, guidance for the current quarter is very much in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by LSEG.
• Peloton — Shares fell 2.1% after the fitness company announced its refinancing. The company is putting up $275 million in senior convertible notes through a private offering.
• Keysight Technologies — Shares fell 2.7% on weak guidance for the current quarter. The company said it expects non-GAAP earnings per share of between $1.30 and $1.36 and revenue of between $1.18 billion and $1.2 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings per share of $1.45 and revenue of $1.21 billion.

-Alex Harring

Crypto prices rose Monday amid a late burst of optimism around the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision on ether spot exchange-traded fund applications, expected this week . The previous consensus was that the funds would likely not be approved.

Ether dominated the crypto market, rising about 15% to around $3,500, according to Coin Metrics. Bitcoin gained more than 4%, briefly reaching $70,000 at one point for the first time since April.

In regular trading, crypto-related stocks rode the wave, with Coinbase and MicroStrategy jumping 8% and 9%, respectively. Miners Marathon Digital and CleanSpark rose 14% each.

-Tanaya Macheel

Stock futures were little changed shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped about 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Dow futures both moved slightly.

-Alex Harring