Disappointing Walmart Guidance May Weigh On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the strength seen in the previous session.

The downward momentum on Wall Street partly reflects a negative reaction to earnings news from Walmart (WMT).

While Walmart reported fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates, the retail giant provided weaker than expected earnings guidance for the current year.

Negative sentiment may also be generated by a continued spike by the price of crude oil amid concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

However, the futures regained some ground following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended February 14th.

Stocks showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Wednesday before giving back some ground over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but managed to end the day firmly in positive territory.

Adding to the modest gains posted during Tuesday’s session, the Nasdaq advanced 175.25 points or 0.8 percent to 22,753.63, the S&P 500 climbed 38.09 points or 0.6 percent to 6,881.31 and the Dow rose 129.47 points or 0.3 percent to 49,662.66.

The early strength on Wall Street came as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) surged after the AI chipmaker announced a multi-year, multi-generational strategic partnership with Facebook parent Meta (META) spanning on-premises, cloud and AI infrastructure.

The company said the partnership will enable the large-scale deployment of Nvidia CPUs and millions of Nvidia Blackwell and Rubin GPUs.

After jumping by as much as 2.9 percent, Nvidia pulled back well off its best levels of the day but still closed up by 1.6 percent.

Shares of Micron (MU) also spiked by 5.3 percent on news David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management has increased its holdings in the chipmaker by 200 percent.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a report from the Federal Reserve showing industrial production increased by more than expected in the month of January.

However, stocks pulled back off their highs following the release of the minutes of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting, which revealed officials remain divided about the outlook for interest rates.

The minutes of the Fed’s January 27-28 meeting said several participants felt further rate cuts would likely be appropriate if inflation were to decline in line with their expectations.

However, others believed it would likely be appropriate to leave rates unchanged for “some time” as the Fed carefully assesses incoming data.

A number of these participants judged that additional policy easing may not be warranted until there was clear indication that the progress of disinflation was firmly back on track, the Fed said.

The Fed noted several participants even supported a two-sided description of the outlook for rates, reflecting the possibility that rate increases could be appropriate if inflation remains at above-target levels.

With the price of crude oil skyrocketing, oil service stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, resulting in a 2.7 percent surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Gold stocks also saw significant strength amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.5 percent.

Oil producer, financial and transportation stocks also turned in strong performances, while interest rate-sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $1.36 to $66.55 a barrel after soaring $2.86 to $65.19 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after jumping $103.60 to $5,009.50 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $1.40 to $5,008.10 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.97 yen versus the 154.82 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1755 compared to yesterday’s $1.1782.

Asia

Asian shares ended mostly higher on Thursday even as regional trading volumes remained thin amid the Lunar New Year holidays in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Regional sentiment was underpinned by easing AI concerns and a slew of upbeat U.S. economic news released overnight.

The dollar was firm and gold added to sharp overnight gains, rising above $5,000 an ounce after reports suggested the U.S. military is prepared to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend. Oil extended gains after soaring more than 4 percent on Wednesday.

Japanese markets advanced after data showed machinery orders surged at a record pace in December, driven by large industrial orders. A softer yen and Wall Street’s AI-chip optimism also boosted sentiment.

The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.6 percent to 57,467.83, while the broader Topix Index jumped 1.2 percent to 3,852.09. Tech stocks led the way higher, with SoftBank surging 2.6 percent and Tokyo Electron gaining 2.9 percent.

Advantest slumped 3.6 percent after the company said it is responding to a ransomware cybersecurity incident that may have affected certain systems on its network.

South Korea’s benchmark surged to a record, led by heavyweight semiconductor names on easing AI-disruption fears.

The Kospi soared 3.1 percent to 5,677.25, surpassing the 5,600-point mark for the first time ever as traders returned to their desks after a three-day break for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Semiconductor and other blue-chip tech shares topped the gainers list, with Samsung Electronics rallying 4.9 percent, SK Hynix adding 1.6 percent and Hyundai Motor rising 2.8 percent.

Australian markets rose notably to hit a four-month high as new data showed employment growth moderated but remained resilient in January.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 0.9 percent to 9,086.20, extending gains for a fourth straight session. The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.8 percent higher at 9,316.60.

National Australia Bank rallied 2.4 percent to extend gains from the previous session after reporting strong quarterly results.

BHP, the world’s top copper producer, added 1.8 percent after reporting higher earnings and revenue for the half year ended December 31, 2025 and boosting guidance for 2026.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index shot up by 1.5 percent to 13,444.20 after a dovish hold from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly lower on Thursday as earnings proved to be a mixed bag and reports emerged that the U.S. military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend.

Elsewhere, Russia said it destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones overnight as U.S.-brokered Geneva talks ended without a breakthrough.

The German DAX Index is down by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.7 percent.

Airbus shares have plummeted after the plane maker said delays in engine deliveries for its A320 jets were holding back plans to increase production.

Hotel group Accor has also shown a notable move to the downside after confirming its medium-term outlook.

Building materials provider CRH has also moved lower in London as its fourth quarter earnings missed estimates.

On the other hand, French telecom firm Orange has moved sharply higher after its quarterly core profit beat estimates.

Air France-KLM has also soared after the airline delivered a record operating profit of more than €2 billion in 2025.

Swiss food giant Nestle has also shown a strong move to the upside after it announced plans to offload its ice-cream business.

Repsol shares have also risen. The Spanish energy firm lifted its 2026 dividend and maintained the pace of its share buyback program.

U.S. Economic News

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended February 14th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims slid to 206,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 229,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 225,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 219,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 220,000.

Reflecting a surge in imports and a slump in exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in the month of December.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit grew to $70.3 billion in December from a revised $53.0 billion in November.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to shrink to $55.8 billion from the $56.8 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpectedly wider trade deficit came as the value of imports shot up by 3.6 percent to $357.6 billion, while the exports tumbled by 1.7 percent to $287.3 billion.

A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday showed regional manufacturing activity expanded overall in the month of February.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity climbed to 16.3 in February from 12.6 in January, with a positive reading indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to decrease to 7.7.

Looking ahead, the report said expectations for growth over the next six months were more widespread, with the diffusion index for future general activity spiking to 42.8 in February from 25.5 in January.

At 9 am ET, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is due to deliver the keynote before the Midwest Summit: Economic Outlook 2026 hosted by the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.

The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of January at 10 am ET. Pending home sales are expected to jump by 2.5 percent in January after plummeting by 9.3 percent in December.

Also at 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on leading economic indicators in the month of December.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is scheduled to deliver opening remarks before the 2026 Joint Conference on Financial Crises at 10:30 am ET.

At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the details of this month’s auction of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes.

The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on crude oil inventories in the week ended February 13th at 10:30 am ET. Crude oil inventories are expected to increase by 2.1 million barrels after jumping by 8.5 million barrels in the previous week.

At 2:30 pm ET, Goolsbee is due to moderate a panel Q&A before the 2026 Joint Conference on Financial Crises.