Summarize in up to four sentences.: Stocks wobble with Fed minutes on tap: Stock market news today
Brett LoGiurato and Josh Schafer
Wed, August 16, 2023 at 12:36 p.m. GMT-4·1 min read
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^DJI
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^GSPC
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^IXIC
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US stocks wobbled in midday trading Wednesday as a retail-heavy week continued with a warning from Target (TGT) and Wall Street awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down 0.7%. The indexes were looking to rebound from a day that saw each lose more than 1%.

Target took center stage Wednesday morning as the retailer slashed its full-year profit outlook and issued a warning about general economic malaise. The company cited rising interest rates and uncertainty from the restart of student loan repayments as factors that may continue to affect its bottom line. However, the stock jumped more than 3% at the open as it revealed a profit jump.

In the afternoon, the Fed will be back in focus, as the minutes from last month's policy meeting are set for release at 2 p.m. ET. The central bank raised interest rates to their highest point since 2001 at that meeting. Investors will look for any clues to what the Fed might do at its meeting next month. At this point, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, over 90% of traders expect the bank to hold steady.

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12 hours ago
Josh Schafer
Stocks lose steam in afternoon trading
After starting the day mixed, all three of the major averages are now in the red as investors digest a warning on the US consumer from Target and await minutes from the Federal Reserves July policy meeting which are scheduled for release at 2 p.m.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell just along the flat line, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) slipped 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the losses falling 0.7%.

13 hours ago
Josh Schafer
Target shares higher despite gloomy outlook
Target (TGT) stock rose nearly 3% on Wednesday as the company reported better than expected earnings per share for the prior quarter and showed improvements in gross margins and inventories. But it wasn't all good for the retailer.

Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi reports:

In its second quarter earnings report, the discounter slashed its full-year profit outlook on Tuesday, warning that general economic malaise, rising interest rates, and uncertainty from the restart of student loan repayments in a few weeks may continue to take their collective toll.

"The resumption of student loan repayments is one of many factors that we're watching really closely," Target CFO Michael Fiddelke told Yahoo Finance on a media call.

Target CEO Brian Cornell added that the back-to-school season has started on a "solid" note but warned that much of the key shopping period lay ahead of the retailer.

Yet another cautious outlook from Target arrives as the big-box retailer continues to battle a more price-competitive Walmart (WMT) and the fallout from consumer uproar over Pride Month merchandise.

"Certainly, during the month of June we did see some behavior from guests that caused our teams to feel unsafe at work," Cornell said on the Pride Month fallout. "And we certainly saw some angry guests that were intimidating our team members and damaging merchandise and defacing some of the signage. Once we took those actions and addressed the situation, we certainly saw things normalize and we certainly think we took the right steps during that moment in time."

14 hours ago
Dani Romero
Builders boost new construction as inventory slump persists
Homebuilders aren’t slowing down amid persistent inventory woes. But they also aren’t as bullish on future developments.

Housing starts for both new single- and multi-family units increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.452 million units, according to the Census Bureau data out Wednesday. That’s 3.9% higher than June’s revised estimate rate of 1.398 million units and 5.9% higher from a year ago. That pace just exceeded the 1.450 million units economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected.

Permits to build came in at an annualized rate of 1.442 million units in July, just a 0.1% gain from the revised June rate of 1.441 million units and lower than economists' expectations of 1.463 million units. Single-family dwellings permits rose 0.6% from the month prior to 924,000 units. On the multifamily side, the pace delivered a rate of 464,000 units in July.

For much of the year, homebuilders have been optimistic as a limited supply of previously-owned homes sparked more interest in new construction. But with mortgage rates now hovering near 7%, consumers are again feeling the pinch of affordability, and builders have noticed. The latest builder sentiment dipped for the first time in August, after seven consecutive months of increases.

"Rising mortgage rates and high construction costs stemming from a dearth of construction workers, a lack of buildable lots and ongoing shortages of distribution transformers put a chill on builder sentiment in August," Alicia Huey, NAHB chairman and a homebuilder from Birmingham, Ala., said in a statement on Tuesday.

Full story

15 hours ago
Josh Schafer
Trending stocks in morning trade
Target (TGT) led the Yahoo Finance trending tickers page on Wednesday morning. Shares of the retailer gained more than 6% after the company's quarterly results came in largely better than feared, including improved gross margins and shrinking inventories. However, the company slashed it's full-year profit outlook.

Shares of VinFast Auto (VFS) fell more than 20% after shares of the EV automaker surged following its Nasdaq trading debut.

Cava (CAVA) stock was up more than 1% after the company reported its first profitable quarter. Revenue grew 62.4% compared to the prior quarter, jumping to $171.1 million from $105.3 million previously.

Coinbase (COIN) stock popped more than 2% after the crypto currency exchange said it received regulatory approval to offer US retail customers regulated crypto futures in the coming months.

15 hours ago
Josh Schafer
Stocks open lower
Stocks were slightly in the red at the open on Wednesday as Target (TGT) warned of a cautious consumer in the back half of the year and investors awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hovered along the flat line, as the S&P 500 (^GSPC) slipped 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led losses falling 0.4%.

16 hours ago
Jenny Mccall
Target, Coinbase, Tesla: Stocks trending in premarket trading
Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page in premarket trading on Wednesday:

Target (TGT): The retailer's shares rose 7% pre market on Wednesday as a profit gain appeared to outweigh a slash to its full-year profit outlook.

Coinbase (COIN): Shares rose by 2% after the group announced it had secured approval to offer cryptocurrency futures to US retail customers.

JD.com (JD): Shares in the Chinese tech group fell 5% after it beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on Wednesday. Investors, however, are still concerned by China’s poor economic outlook.

Tesla (TSLA): Shares in the EV maker fell 2% premarket as it continued to slash prices of its cars.

17 hours ago
Myles Udland
Futures little-changed as markets look to rebound
After a shaky session for US stocks that saw all three major averages drop more than 1% futures were fractionally higher early Wednesday with investors digesting results from Target (TGT) ahead of Thursday's marquee quarterly report of the week from Walmart (WMT). Target stock was up as much as 7.4% in pre-market trade on Wednesday.

Near 8:05 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were all higher by less than 0.1%.

Elsewhere in markets, crude oil prices were up about 0.3% with WTI crude oil trading near $81.30 a barrel while gold was little changed near $1,934 an ounce, a nearly three-year high.