Stock futures today: Live updates

The Bank of England raised interest rates by 25 basis points and noted it no longer sees a recession taking place in the U.K. The bank’s policymaking committee voted 7-2 in favor of the increase.

— Elliot Smith

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the idea of U.S. lawmakers letting the nation default on its debt should be “unthinkable.”

Speaking to reporters ahead of the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors meetings in Niigata, Japan, Yellen said she was aware of former President Donald Trump’s suggestion for Republican lawmakers to let the nation to default.

“America should never default,” she said. “Something that would so badly undermine the U.S. and global economy, I think it should be regarded by everyone as unthinkable.”

When asked about steps the Biden administration could take in the wake of a default, Yellen emphasized that lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling.

“There is no good alternative that will save us from catastrophe. I don’t want to get into ranking which bad alternative is better than others, but the only reasonable thing is to raise the debt ceiling and to avoid the dreadful consequences that will come,” she told reporters.

– Jihye Lee

The Japanese yen strengthened slightly to 134.14 against the greenback as the dollar index maintained lower levels after the U.S. consumer price index showed eased inflation overnight.

The dollar index inched lower in Asia’s morning to 101.48. China’s onshore yuan weakened marginally to 6.9389 against the greenback after its consumer and producer price index delivered a softer-than-expected reading.

South Korea’s won weakened 0.24% against the greenback to 1,320.95. The Australian dollar weakened by 0.1% to 0.6671 against the U.S. dollar.

The Bank of Japan’s emphasized in its April meeting that the central bank should maintain its current ultra dovish monetary policy and take note of wage increases in its 2% inflation target.

In its summary of opinions released for the April 27 meeting, the BOJ was of the view that achievement of its 2% inflation target is coming into sight, but added that “it is appropriate that the Bank continue with monetary easing for the time being.”

The BOJ noted that wages are now projected to rise more than expected in this year’s negotiations, and that signs of a “virtuous cycle” between wages and prices have started to emerge in Japan’s economy.

But, it is necessary for the central bank to continue to “firmly support the momentum for wage hikes through monetary easing, so that the nominal wage growth rate will rise sufficiently relative to prices,” it said.

The BOJ estimates that the country’s consumer price index is likely to be above 2% for the time being, due to a pass-through to consumer prices of past rises in import prices.

However, it is expected to fall below 2% from the third quarter of 2023, with the pass-through peaking out, it said.

— Lim Hui Jie

China’s consumer price index rose 0.1% in April year-on-year, the slowest since early 2021. Month-on-month, prices declined by 0.1%.

Economists surveyed by Reuters expected to see consumer prices rise 0.4% from a year ago and remain unchanged from the previous month.

April’s reading comes after China’s inflation rate eased to 0.7% in March after marking a recent peak of 2.8% in September.

The Chinese yuan weakened by 0.04% to 6.9428 against the U.S. dollar.

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading.

Disney — Shares fell more than 4% after the company reported mixed fiscal second quarter results. Earnings came in line with estimates, while revenue slightly beat analysts’ estimates, according to Refinitiv data. While the company said its losses from its streaming segment narrowed, it shed 4 million Disney+ subscribers.

Beyond Meat — The alternative meat manufacturer’s shares rose 2% after Beyond Meat posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter. Beyond Meat reported a loss of 92 cents per share and $92.2 million in revenue. Analysts had anticipated a loss of $1.01 per share on revenue of $90.8 million, according to Refinitiv.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Shares of Robinhood were up about 1.7% in extended trading after the brokerage firm reported better-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter.

Robinhood generated $441 million in revenue for the first quarter, above the $425 million predicted by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Monthly active users rose slightly since the fourth quarter to 11.8 million. However, its net loss grew to $511 million due in large part to a share-based-compensation charge.

The retail brokerage also said it will allow equity trading 24-hours per day, 5-days per week, beginning next week. The company said it will be the first U.S. brokerage to do so.

Robinhood already offers what it calls “hyper extended” trading hours, and CEO Vlad Tenev has previously said that the company’s goal is to one day offer 24/7 trading.

— Jesse Pound

U.S. stock futures opened little-changed Wednesday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 16 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures ticked up 0.01%, while Nasdaq  100 futures dipped 0.02%.

— Hakyung Kim