Coffee With Greta: Waiting For The Jobs Report

DJIA Futures: +189 (+0.5%)

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NASDAQ Futures: +153 (+0.8%)

Good morning friends!

Futures are higher as traders await Friday’s jobs report.

Let’s get right to it!

Weekly Jobless Claims Climb

Weekly jobless claims rose more than expected last week.?

The Labor Department reported 221,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits.?

That was up by 9,000 from the week before and the highest total in nine weeks.?

Economists expected claims to rise to 213,000.?

Continuing jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to 1.79 million in the week ending March 23.?

Powell Emphasizes Need For More Data On Inflation

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says the Central Bank is in no rush to start cutting interest rates.?

Speaking at Stanford University on Wednesday, Powell said, “On inflation, it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump.”

He said officials still need more data of inflation cooling in order to start cuts.?

Powell said, “We do not expect that it will be appropriate to lower our policy rate until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2 percent. Given the strength of the economy and progress on inflation so far, we have time to let the incoming data guide our decisions on policy.”

His comments came hours after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC he only expects one rate cut in 2024, in the fourth quarter.?

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 61.5% of traders still anticipating the first rate cute at the Fed’s June meeting.?

Levi Rises On Strong Fiscal Q1

Levi Strauss (LEVI) shares are rallying 13.3% ahead of the open after beating fiscal Q1 expectations on the top and bottom line.?

Here’s how the denim company’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:?

• Adjusted EPS: $0.26 vs $0.21 expected
• Revenue: $1.56 billion vs $1.55 billion expected

Sales were down about 8% year over year, primarily due to a shift away from wholesale orders to retailers.

Direct-to-consumer sales made up 48% of Levi’s overall sales, up from 42% a year ago and 25% two years ago.?

The company forecast full-year sales will rise between 1% and 3% with adjusted EPS between $1.17 and $1.27.?

Analysts were anticipating 2.4% full-year sales growth and EPS of $1.21.

In Case You Missed It

• Growth in the U.S. services sector slowed in March. The Institute for Supply Management’s services PMI fell to 51.4% last month from 52.6% in February. That was lower than expectations for an increase to 52.7%. The business activity index rose 0.2% to 57.4%, new orders fell 1.7% to 54.4%, and the employment index rose 0.5% to 48.5%.?