Asian stocks set to track U.S. gains; Dollar drops
Asian stocks are set to track a U.S. rally as a focus on corporate earnings helps to ease some of the concerns over inflationary pressures in the global economy. A gauge of the dollar held a retreat.
Futures advanced in Japan and Hong Kong. Australian shares edged up at the open, while U.S. contracts were steady. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$is close to a record as traders digest company reports to assess the impact of supply-chain snarls and higher commodity prices.
Jet fuel price surge is clouding U.S. airlines' recovery plans
Jet fuel prices are surging above pre-pandemic levels, an ominous headwind for airlines plotting a recovery from more than a year of losses. Despite lackluster demand, the cost of jet fuel has climbed about 70% so far this year alongside rising crude oil prices.
$United Airlines (UAL.US)$on Tuesday forecast an average price of $2.39 a gallon in the fourth quarter, up from $2.14 in the most recent quarter. The airline paid $2.02 per gallon in the third quarter of 2019.
Googling 'job' is once again more popular than 'unemployment'
There may be a glimmer of hope for U.S. employers who are facing an acute labor shortage.
"Job" has finally overtaken "unemployment" as a search term for the first time since March 2020, according to data from Google Trends. The number of Americans googling "unemployment" peaked at the end of March 2020, when the pandemic shut down the U.S. economy, and had been hovering above "job" searches until mid-September 2021.
Interactive Brokers misses revenue estimates as trading slows
$Interactive Brokers (IBKR.US)$reported third-quarter revenue that fell short of Wall Street estimates as trading activity moderated from earlier in the year. Revenue fell 15% from a year earlier to $464 million, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based company said Tuesday. That missed the $640 million average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Johnson & Johnson's sales climb across divisions
$Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US)$'s sales climbed in the latest quarter compared with the same stretch of last year, reflecting a return of more doctor's visits and medical procedures after the pandemic disrupted the industry.
Its revenue rose 11% year over year in the third quarter to $23.34 billion. Earnings were $1.37 a share—up from $1.33 a year ago—or $2.60 a share after stripping out one-time items. Wall Street analysts had been forecasting sales of $23.64 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.35 a share, according to FactSet.
'Squid Game' boosts Netflix's third-quarter subscriber growth
$Netflix (NFLX.US)$ said 142 million subscribers, which account for two-thirds of all Netflix users, have watched at least two minutes of its new hit "Squid Game."Netflix gained 4.4 million new subscribers in the third quarter, but only 70,000 of them came from the U.S. and Canada. The streaming service has added fewer than 1 million new subscribers from the U.S. and Canada in the past 12 months.
Google unveils its newest smartphones, the first powered by the company's own chip
$Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$on Tuesday unveiled the full details of its new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. The Pixel 6 starts at $599 while the Pixel 6 Pro starts at $899, and they hit store shelves Oct. 28. Google's new Tensor chip, which powers the phones, enables unique software features.
Comcast launches smart TV for U.S. market in bid to take on Roku, Amazon
$Churchill Capital Corp V (CCV.US)$unveiled a smart TV for the U.S. market, as the cable giant looks to become a dominant distributor of streaming apps and give a boost to its homegrown Peacock service.
With its push into smart TVs, Comcast is taking on players such as $Roku Inc (ROKU.US)$and $Amazon (AMZN.US)$as a hub for consumers to access streaming services. That transition is becoming more urgent as more consumers cut the traditional TV cord and turn to streaming for entertainment, sports and news.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC

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