Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500 Futures Slip As Jackson Hole Kicks Off— Walmart, Intuit, Ross Stores Earnings In Focus

Editor’s Note: The future prices of benchmark tracking ETFs, the lede, and the latest economic releases were updated in the story.

U.S. stock futures dropped on Thursday following Wednesday’s mixed close. Futures of major benchmark indices were lower.

The initial jobless claims rose to 235,000 in the week ending Aug. 14, just above the 226,000 consensus forecast.

The August 2025 Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey weakened this month. The current general activity index fell to a near-zero reading, the new orders index dipped into negative territory, and the shipments index also declined but remained positive.

The three-day Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium begins today, with the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell‘s speech expected on Friday. The theme for the 2025 symposium is “Labor Markets in Transition: Demographics, Productivity, and Macroeconomic Policy.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump intensified his campaign to reshape the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, demanding that Governor Lisa Cook resign over mortgage fraud allegations while the Justice Department reviews the case. Trump wrote, “Cook must resign, now!!!” on Truth Social.

After Home Depot Inc. HD and Target Corp.‘s TGT earnings, investors await retail giant Walmart Inc.‘s WMT earnings, which are scheduled to be released today.

The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.30% and the two-year bond was at 3.76%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 81.2% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates for the Sept. 17 decision.

Futures	Change (+/-)
Dow Jones	-0.25%
S&P 500	-0.11%
Nasdaq 100	-0.02%
Russell 2000	-0.33%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, fell in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was down 0.34% at $635.96, while the QQQ declined 0.34% to $563.98, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session

Energy, health care, and consumer staples stocks recorded the biggest gains on Wednesday, leading most sectors on the S&P 500 to a positive close.

However, information technology and consumer discretionary stocks bucked the trend, as U.S. stocks settled mostly lower with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 100 points.

The Federal Reserve indicated that inflation risks remain “considerable” due to uncertain trade tariff impacts, casting fresh doubt over imminent interest rate cuts, according to its July minutes. — https://www.benzinga.com/news/politics/25/08/47244480/federal-reserve-outlook-interest-rates-july-meeting-minutes-markets

Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR fell 1%, its worst two-day slump since April. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. LOW reported strong earnings, but Target Corp. TGT shares fell 6% on its results. On the economic front, U.S. mortgage applications fell 1.4%.

The Dow Jones index ended 16 points or 0.036% higher at 44,938.31, whereas the S&P 500 index fell 0.24% to 6,395.78. Nasdaq Composite declined 0.67% to 21,172.86, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, tumbled 0.32% to end at 2,269.35.

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq Composite	-0.67%	21,172.86
S&P 500	-0.24%	6,395.78
Dow Jones	0.036%	44,938.31
Russell 2000	-0.32%	2,269.35

Insights From Analysts

Ryan Detrick from Carson Research highlighted in his Mid-Year Earnings Recap report that “Nearly 60% of companies have raised their forward guidance for full-year EPS, something nearly unthinkable earlier this year when companies were withdrawing guidance completely in the wake of tariff uncertainty.”

In a recent mid-year earnings recap, Grant Engelbart, Vice President and Investment Strategist at Carson Investment Research, concludes that as the second-quarter earnings season for 2025 draws to a close, a clear picture has emerged: corporate America is thriving.

His analysis highlights that despite economic uncertainties, S&P 500 companies have delivered a remarkably solid set of results, fueled by the artificial intelligence boom and supported by broad-based strength.

A standout feature of the quarter, Engelbart notes, was the sheer number of companies that surpassed analyst forecasts. According to data from S&P Global cited in his report, a remarkable 78% of S&P 500 companies beat their earnings-per-share (EPS) estimates.

Engelbart emphasizes that this is an above-average figure and adds that the magnitude of these beats was also significant, with companies exceeding their EPS estimates by more than 8% on average.

Engelbart states that earnings drive stock prices over the long term, and the Carson Investment Research analysis points to last quarter’s powerful performance as a prime example.

Their report shows that overall S&P 500 earnings jumped more than 11%, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth. While the Mag 7 made a large contribution, the analysis emphasizes that the median stock in the index posted a very healthy 8% year-over-year earnings growth.

Finally, Engelbart concludes his analysis by pointing to a key trend for investors: the market is becoming increasingly favorable for active management.

He explains that with the average correlation between individual stocks near historic lows and stock dispersion on the rise, the current environment creates ample opportunity for skilled stock pickers to find winning companies beyond the biggest names.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday;

• -Initial jobless claims rose to 235,000 in the week ending Aug. 14, up from the previous 224,000 claims last week and much above the 226,000 consensus forecast.
• -The August 2025 Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey’s diffusion index revealed that current general activity declined from 15.9 to -0.3 in August, mostly undoing its rise from last month.
• -August’s S&P flash U.S. services PMI and S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI will be out by 9:45 a.m. ET.
• -July’s existing home sales and U.S. leading economic indicators will also be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• -The three-day annual Jackson Hole Symposium will also commence on Thursday, Aug. 21, in Wyoming.

Stocks In Focus

• Walmart Inc. WMT was down 0.92% in premarket on Thursday as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of 74 cents per share on revenue of $176.16 billion.

• Intuit Inc. INTU was 0.021% below the flatline as analysts expect it to report earnings of $2.66 per share on revenue of $3.75 billion after the markets close.

• Ross Stores Inc. ROST was 0.096% above the flatline as it is expected to report earnings after the closing bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $1.53 per share on revenue of $5.57 billion.

• Coty Inc. COTY dropped 22.43% after it posted mixed fourth-quarter fiscal results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The global beauty company reported adjusted loss of 5 cents per share for the quarter, missing analyst expectations for positive earnings of 2 cents per share.

• Nordson Corp. NDSN rose 5.40% after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results. The precision dispensing equipment manufacturer reported third-quarter revenue of $741.51 million, beating analyst estimates of $722.57 million

• Tharimmune Inc. THAR surged 47.08% following positive pharmacokinetic simulation results for its lead drug candidate TH104, designed to prevent respiratory depression from fentanyl exposure.

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. HPE rose 3.09% following OpenText‘s OTEX participation in the HPE Unleash AI partner program, expanding its collaboration with HPE to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 1.00% to hover around $63.34 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.25% to hover around $3,339.96 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.01% lower at the 98.2060 level.

Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday, except Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, South Korea’s Kospi, China’s CSI 300, and Australia’s ASX 200 indices rose. European markets were lower in early trade.

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