Tesla Stock, Bed Bath, Boeing, PepsiCo: What to Watch When the Market Opens Today

Here’s what we are watching as markets kick into gear Thursday.

—U.S. stock futures rallied, following the S&P 500’s best six-month performance since 2009, as central banks’ stimulus measures keep markets buoyant. Despite a decline in September, the broad market gauge is up about 27% over the two quarters ended Wednesday. Read our full market wrap here.

—IPOs to watch.

Altimeter Growth,

Mission Produce

and blank-check company

Recharge Acquisition

will begin trading on Thursday.

—What’s coming up. Weekly jobless claims data are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, and are expected to have held steady for the fifth straight week. U.S. consumer spending figures, which will also be released at 8:30 a.m., are likely to show another monthly increase for August. And the Institute for Supply Management’s September purchasing managers index for manufacturing is likely to reflect a strong rebound in factory activity when it comes out at 10 a.m.

Shares in retailer Bed Bath & Beyond soared on Thursday.

Photo:

cj gunther/Shutterstock

Market Movers to Watch

Tesla

climbed 2.8% ahead of the New York opening bell, adding to the company’s 410%-plus advance this year.

Amazon.com,

Apple

and

Microsoft

are also among the turbocharged stocks edging higher at the start of the fourth quarter.

American Equity Investment Life Holding

soared 57% premarket after a pair of insurance companies made a bid for the small Iowa insurer.

Bed Bath & Beyond

jumped 16% after the retailer’s second-quarter earnings and sales beat expectations.

Boeing

rose 2.3% after the plane maker got a tentative personal endorsement for fixes to its beleaguered 737 MAX from the head of the Federal Aviation Administration after he personally took one of the jets on a test flight.

PepsiCo

gained 1.5% in premarket trading after the drinks and snacks company’s forecast for adjusted earnings per share for 2020 beat estimates.

American Airlines Group

advanced 1.7%. The airline and

United Airlines Holdings

will go forward for now with a total of more than 32,000 job cuts Thursday after lawmakers were unable to agree on a broad coronavirus-relief package, the airlines told employees. United climbed 1.6% premarket.