STOCK MARKET NEWS: Nasdaq enters bull market, Dow adds 535 points, Disney earnings in focus

U.S. equity futures were rising Wednesday morning ahead of the release of the July report on consumer prices. The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.3% when trading begins on Wall Street.

Oil prices slipped Wednesday as data showed U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly rose last week, signaling a potential pause in demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded around $90.00 a barrel. Brent crude futures were around $96.00 a barrel.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to say the consumer price index rose a slight 0.2% month-over-month in July. That’s down sharply from June’s 1.3% spike. 

On a year-over-year basis watch for prices to soar 8.7% in July, easing back from June’s much hotter-than-expected 9.1% surge, the highest inflation rate in almost 41 years. 

Earnings season continues with Fox Corporation, the parent of Fox News and Fox Business, reporting ahead of the opening bell. Others reporting include Wendy’s and Jack in the Box. In the afternoon the focus will turn to another media giant, Dow member Walt Disney. 

Shares of Sweetgreen tumbled 22% in after-hours trading after the fast casual restaurant chain reported second quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. Revenue rose 45% to $124.9 million. The Wall Street estimate was $130.4 million. Same-store sales rose 16%. The net loss was $40 million, or 36 cents per share. The company cut its workforce by 5%.

Shares of Roblox fell 11% in extended trading after the gaming platform missed estimates for quarterly bookings on Tuesday, as the company faced a slowdown in the pandemic-fueled surge in spending for its games including “Jailbreak” and “Adopt Me!.”

The company posted net bookings of $639.9 million in the second quarter, compared with $665.5 million a year earlier.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong plunged 1.9% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5%.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.4%, falling to 4,122.47 on Tuesday for its fourth daily decline following disappointing earnings reports. The Dow slipped 0.2% to close at 32,774.41. The Nasdaq dropped 1.2% to 12,493.93.