5 issues to know before the inventory current market opens Wednesday, Aug 18

Right here are the most vital information, traits and evaluation that investors require to start out their buying and selling working day:

1. Futures are flat in advance of housing knowledge, Fed minutes

Traders operate on the buying and selling floor of the New York Stock Trade (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York Town, U.S., August 17, 2021.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

U.S. inventory futures have been flat Wednesday as traders awaited key housing knowledge and a summary of the Federal Reserve’s new assembly. S&P 500 futures dipped about 1 level, when Dow Jones Industrial Ordinary futures were down 46 points, or .1%. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed just .2%. Wednesday’s moves appear a day soon after the 30-stock Dow dropped 282 factors, though the S&P 500 posted its major one-working day decline due to the fact July 19.

U.S. housing starts and making permits details for July is established for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists be expecting housing starts to have fallen by 3.2% to 1.59 million, according to Dow Jones. Setting up permits are expected to occur in at 1.61 million, up .8%. The Fed minutes are established to arrive out at 2 p.m. ET, and traders will parse them out to glance for clues on when the central financial institution could start out tapering its huge stimulus applications.

2. Lowe’s and Concentrate on earnings defeat estimates

A shopper departs immediately after viewing a Lowe’s hardware retail store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 4, 2020.

Mark Makela | Reuters

A shopper leaves a Concentrate on store in New York, August 15, 2021.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

3. Palantir hundreds up on gold

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir comes forward of a “Tech For Fantastic” meetup at Hotel Marigny in Paris on May perhaps 15, 2019, held to go over superior carry out for technologies giants.

Bertrand Guay | AFP | Getty Visuals

Palantir did anything unusual for a publicly traded firm: It purchased gold. The details analytics software program business disclosed in its hottest quarterly report that it purchased nearly $51 million in gold 100-ounce gold bars. The transfer is strange mainly because shareholders would ordinarily force for a enterprise to place its cash to perform towards capital expenditures, share buybacks or even a dividend. On the other hand, the transfer could be reflective of a firm bracing for financial uncertainty.

4. Afghanistan evacuations decide on up steam

Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Power C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021.

Courtesy of Defense 1 | Handout by way of Reuters

Evacuations from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul picked up steam, as thousands of diplomats and assist personnel have still left the region together with at least various hundred Afghans. The U.K. governing administration states it is using about 1,000 individuals out of Afghanistan just about every day. “We are even now bringing out British nationals … and these Afghan nationals who are portion of our regionally utilized scheme,” U.K. Interior Minister Priti Patel instructed the BBC on Wednesday. Reuters described, citing an anonymous security official, that more than 2,200 diplomats and civilian employees have been evacuated.

5. TSA extends mask mandate through January

Vacationers hold out in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening checkpoint at Orlando Worldwide Airport in Might, 2021.

Paul Hennessy | SOPA Pictures | LightRocket | Getty Pictures

The Transportation Security Administration has extended a federal need for travelers to use masks on industrial flights, buses and trains. The mandate, which was set to expire following thirty day period, is now in put as a result of Jan. 18. “The purpose of TSA’s mask directive is to decrease the spread of COVID-19 on public transportation,” TSA claimed in a statement. The mandate will now include customarily fast paced journey periods, these kinds of as Thanksgiving and the December vacations. The mandate’s extension arrives as Covid conditions throughout the U.S. increase owing to the very contagious delta variant.

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