Key Takeaways

• Fed's Waller: No Rush to Cut Rates Amid Inflation
• JPMorgan Warns of Stock Surge Risks; RBC and Goldman Optimistic
• Analyst Predicts Over 50% Surge in Small-Cap Stocks for 2024
• Reddit Stock Down Nearly 4% Pre-Market

I. Market Report

Stock futures were flat Thursday as the S&P 500 approached its best first-quarter performance in five years.

As of 08:35 am, EST (or 20:35 in Malaysia), futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures inched lower by 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined nearly 0.06%.

II. Market Movers

As of 07:59 am, EST (or 19:59 in Malaysia), top pre-market movements are as follows:

Note: We are pleased to inform you that our app now supports pre/after-market trading for US stocks. The trading hours for these sessions are as follows:

• Pre-market: 16:00 to 21:30 in Malaysia
• After-hours market: 04:00 to 08:00 the next day in Malaysia

Please note that regular trading hours are from 21:30 to 04:00 UTC.

III. Flash Headlines

Fed's Waller: No Rush to Cut Rates Amid Inflation

The latest U.S. inflation data points to the Federal Reserve needing to keep rates at their current levels, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said late Wednesday.

“There is no rush to cut the policy rate,” he said in a speech at the Economic Club of New York. Recent data “tells me that it is prudent to hold this rate at its current restrictive stance perhaps for longer than previously thought to help keep inflation on a sustainable trajectory toward 2%.”

“We’re in a situation where if we ease too much or too soon, we could see inflation come back, and if we ease too late, we could do unnecessary harm to employment and people’s working lives,” he said. “We want to be careful.”

JPMorgan Warns of Stock Surge Risks; RBC and Goldman Optimistic

JPMorgan strategists, including chief global equity strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, warned that the current surge in stock prices might abruptly end, citing past incidents like flash crashes.

In contrast to JPMorgan's cautionary stance, RBC has raised its S&P 500 target, buoyed by a more positive economic forecast.

Goldman Sachs ($Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS$ ) acknowledges the high cost of US stocks but still sees potential for further increases in the market.

Analyst Predicts Over 50% Surge in Small-Cap Stocks for 2024

Fundstrat Global Advisors' Co-Founder and Head of Research, Tom Lee, suggested that investors focusing on large caps might overlook a more subtle segment of the US market poised to deliver substantial returns in 2024. In his latest report on Wednesday, he noted a preference for small-cap stocks, which he believes could surge by at least 50%.

IV. Stocks to Watch

Bernstein Lowered Tesla’s Target Price

Bernstein lowered the target price of Tesla ( $Tesla Motors, Inc. TSLA$ ) and pointed out that Tesla’s high valuation is unreasonable because its profit margin is similar to its peers. More importantly, Tesla’s growth has already stagnated, and there are no clear catalysts to stimulate its future growth. Bernstein analysts have lowered Tesla’s target stock price from $150 per share to $120.

Reddit Stock Down Nearly 4% Pre-Market

Ortex analysis reveals that after its IPO, Reddit ($Reddit RDDT$ ) has attracted significant short interest, with at least 7.1% of its free float shares being shorted. According to a report from Hedgeye, Reddit’s stock is considered significantly overvalued, with its trading price seen as needing to drop over 40% to align closer to its IPO price of $34.

Akebia Therapeutics Surges Over 10% Pre-Market

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Akebia Therapeutics’ ( $Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. AKBA$ ) drug vadadustat on Wednesday for treating anemia in dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The regulatory agency indicated in a letter that Akebia can explore conducting new studies to conduct a favorable benefit-risk assessment of the medication.

Snowflake Rises Nearly 3% Pre-Market

According to documents disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 27th, Ramaswamy Sridhar, a director of Snowflake( $Snowflake SNOW$ ), increased his holdings by an average of 31,500 shares of common stock on March 25 at an average price of $158.52 per share, with a total value of approximately $5 million.

Solventum Corp. and GE Vernova Inc. to Join S&P 500 on April 1 and 2

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Solventum Corp. ( $Solventum Corp. SOLV#$ ) will join the S&P 500 Index before the market opens on April 1, while GE Vernova Inc. ( $GE Vernova Inc. GEV#$ ) is set to enter the Index before trading begins on April 2.

V. Calendar

Earnings:

$Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. RKDA$

$Atour Lifestyle Holdings Limited ATAT$

Expected IPO:

$Alta Global Group Limited MMA$

$International Bancshares Corporation IBOC$

$Mobile-health Network Solutions MNDR$

$Boundless Bio, Inc. BOLD$

$OrangeKloud Technology Inc. ORKT$

Please note that the timing of IPOs is subject to change at any time (including being advanced or delayed). Investors should therefore keep up-to-date with relevant news.

Events:

22:30 GMT+8 Crude Oil Inventories

Read more on the full week's calendar:
Weekly Watch | Fed Focuses on Key Inflation Metric; Powell and Colleagues Set to Present; Xiaomi Launches SU7 Vehicle

Finally, just a little reminder:

The regular trading hours for US stocks in the Daylight Saving Time (DST) are from 21:30 to 04:00+1 GMT+8, with pre-market trading available from 16:00 to 21:30.

Have a nice trading day!