January's Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index reading — the Federal Reserve's preserved inflation gauge — saw its lowest year-over-year increase in nearly three years.
Salesforce (CRM) forecasted weak full-year revenue guidance while topping fourth-quarter earnings estimates. Snowflake (SNOW) shares continue to slide in pre-market trading after announcing the retirement of CEO Frank Slootman.
Lastly, bitcoin (BTC-USD) continues to roar back to life, climbing closer to $63,000 Thursday morning.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: So let's get right to it, the three things that you need to know, your roadmap for the trading day. Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer, Brian Sozzi, and Jared Blikre have more.
JOSH SCHAFER: Hey, Seana. Stock futures ticking slightly higher on the latest inflation reading. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, personal consumption expenditures or PCE, ticked slightly lower in January matching Wall Street's expectations and hitting its lowest level in about three years.
The PCE index grew 2.4% year over year in January, a decline from last month's 2.6% print. And core PCE, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, came in at 2.8% down from 2.9% in the month prior. Markets now pricing in three interest rate cuts staying steady with their pricing from before this print for the year of 2024.
BRIAN SOZZI: Software stocks lighting up the Yahoo Finance ticker pages today. Heavy-hitter Salesforce and Snowflake delivered a few surprises to investors in their earnings reports. Salesforce issuing revenue guidance for fiscal 2025 that came in below estimates, but margin guidance that came in above estimates as CEO Marc Benioff continues his focus on controlling costs. And over at Snowflake, it issued weaker than expected guidance along with appointing former Google executive Sridhar Ramaswamy to replace the hard-charging billionaire Frank Slootman as CEO. Investors are acting accordingly-- snowflake shares are getting smashed while Salesforce is seeing minor profit taking.
JARED BLIKRE: And Bitcoin back on the rise this morning. The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly spiking above $64,000 on some exchanges Wednesday morning before paring gains early Thursday. Now, the roaring crypto rally is tracking the highest momentum seen since 2022 and it's helping Bitcoin surge to within spitting distance of fresh all-time highs.
