Stock futures were little changed in premarket trading Wednesday with all eyes on Bitcoin as markets await a decision on at least one spot Bitcoin ETF.
Crypto advocates have been hoping for a spot Bitcoin ETF for years, and their hopes were thought to be realized for a brief moment yesterday when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tweeted that it had approved the products. The SEC quickly removed the post, which it said had been made by someone outside of the agency who gained access to its account.
Still, markets and some prospective fund providers are all but certain the SEC will approve the ETFs today. Steven McClurg, chief investment officer of Valkyrie, which has an ETF application before regulators, told Bloomberg on Tuesday he is “95% sure that we will be trading on Thursday.”
In other markets, Treasury yields retreated, with the 10-year yield dipping below 4% ahead of tomorrow’s consumer inflation report. Oil futures ticked up for a second day.
The Nasdaq eked out gains yesterday, boosted by big tech, while the S&P 500 and the Dow slid.
Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket
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Gains:
- Intuitive Surgical (ISRG): Shares jumped about 5% after the company said it had placed 415 da Vinci robotic surgical systems in the fourth quarter and 1,370 in all of 2023, increases of 12% and 8%, respectively, over the prior year.
- Toast Inc. (TOST): Shares of the restaurant payment systems provider rose more than 5% to about $20 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral” and set a price target of $24.
- Lennar Corp. (LEN): Shares of the homebuilder gained 2% after it raised its annual dividend by 33% to $2 per share and authorized an additional $5 billion in share repurchases.
Losses:
- Aehr Test Systems (AEHR): Shares of the company, which makes test systems for semiconductors, plummeted 18% after it cut its fiscal-year revenue forecast amid a slowdown in the electric vehicle market.
- Coinbase Global (COIN): Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange fell 3% after the SEC said a tweet claiming it had approved spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading was false. Other Bitcoin-exposed stocks, like miners Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT), were also lower.
- Etsy Inc. (ETSY): Shares of the e-commerce platform slipped almost 2% after Goldman Sachs analysts downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy,” saying Wall Street’s estimates fairly reflected the company’s near-term growth prospects.
Stock Futures Little Changed Ahead of the Bell
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Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were effectively flat about an hour before markets opened on Wednesday.
S&P 500 futures were up less than 0.1%.
Nasdaq 100 futures inched up about 0.1%.
