Manhattan Associates Inc (MANH) News & EventsMANHManhattan Associates Inc

Stock Futures Muted Ahead of Fed Rate Decision

Stock futures are muted Wednesday as investors await the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and a round of technology earnings that could potentially shape market direction through the remainder of the summer.The Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting this afternoon, with markets expecting policymakers to leave the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged. The primary focus will be Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's post-meeting press conference for clues on how the central bank views inflation, economic growth and the path of interest rates.Corporate earnings remain the market's other major catalyst. Microsoft and Meta Platforms are scheduled to report after the closing bell, with investors looking for evidence that continued multibillion-dollar investments in artificial intelligence are translating into stronger cloud growth, advertising revenue and profitability.Semiconductor stocks remain under pressure following disappointing market reactions to earnings from South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix despite strong headline results. Investors continue to question whether AI infrastructure spending can support current valuations as competition from Chinese chipmakers increases.Investors will monitor developments in the Middle East after renewed regional tensions pushed oil prices higher, reviving concerns that energy-driven inflation could complicate the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. With monetary policy, Big Tech earnings and geopolitical developments all converging, markets are preparing for elevated volatility through the end of the week.In pre-market trading, S&P 500 futures slid 0.01%, Nasdaq futures fell 0.06% and Dow futures declined 0.64%.Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.UP AFTER EARNINGS -Manhattan Associatesup 13%Rocky Brandsup 12%Generacup 9%Amphenolup 6%Tevaup 6%Seagateup 5%Fordup 5%Deutsche Bankup 2%Biogenup 1%General Dynamicsup 1%DOWN AFTER EARNINGS -Lemonadedown 14%Vertivdown 10%VF Corp.down 9%Skyworksdown 8%Humanadown 4%Procter & Gambledown 3%NXP Semiconductorsdown 2%WMdown 2%SK Hynixdown 1%Visadown 1%OneMaindown 1%

Consumer Defensive and Healthcare Sectors Perform Strongly This Week

Counter-cyclical Consumer Defensive and Healthcare sectors have been by far the best performing areas of the market this week, and that was once again the case today as investors continue to rotate from "AI-on" into "AI-off" themes.  In addition to Packaging, Beverage, Tobacco, and other Staples, Software and IT Services names were particularly strong - IBMbounced 5% and has now gained 10% from its post-pre-announcement lows while Workdayand ServiceNow- software stocks routinely punished for being especially threatened in being made "obsolete" by AI  - were up 8% and 5%.   In turn, Semiconductors, Memory, Hardware and Equipment stocks were all hard-hit yet again - Micronfell 9%, Sandiskwas down 14%, and Western Digitalslipped 7% in Tuesday's trading.In the opening hour of the evening session, sentiment remains at the whims of heightened headline risk, with S&P e-minis contract flat and Nasdaq 100 trading down by 0.2%.  KLA Corp- the largest technology market cap out with results afterhours - fell 9% despite beating on top and bottom lines as traders noted compressing margins.  Seagatewas also volatile, having pared its gains to trade slightly negative after jumping as high as 7% initially on earnings before recovering for a 6% advance into the end of the afterhours session.  Geopolitical concerns were also "front and center" Tuesday evening - WTI crude oil spiked over 4% above $82.50 per barrel after U.S. CentCom reported that Iran has launched a missile strike on a U.S. base in Jordan.   Traders are similarly on edge heading into Wednesday's FOMC decision - swaps markets are pricing in a 70% chance of a rate hold against a 30% probability of a rate hike, though with inflation concerns rekindled by renewed Middle East tensions, yields have risen across the curve relative to the last time the Fed met in June.Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER AFTER EARNINGS -Rocky Brandsup 16.2%Teradyneup 11.6%Manhattan Associatesup 9.9%Bloom Energyup 7.6%Seagate Technologyup 6.3%Ford Motor (up 3.9%The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) up 3.7%ALSO HIGHER -Verra Mobilityup 26.6% after reaching framework agreement with Avis Budget on seven-year tolling and violations services contractDOWN AFTER EARNINGS -CoStar Groupdown 13.0%Logitech Internationaldown 11.1%Skyworks Solutionsdown 10.6%KLA Corporationdown 10.0%NXP Semiconductorsdown 5.2%SK hynixdown 5.1%PPG Industries, Inc.down 3.6%Waste Managementdown 2.6%Visadown 1.5%Caesars Entertainmentdown 0.3%