Trading in US index futures pointed to a mixed opening for Wall Street stocks on Thursday, as technology earnings continued to disappoint.
On Wednesday, the major averages ended mostly lower, with the Dow Industrials ending slightly higher, though far from a session high. Alphabet Inc. GOOGLE GOOG and Microsoft Corp. MSFT fell sharply in reaction to their quarterly results, dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lower.
Among sectors, communications services, IT and consumer discretionary stocks fell the most, while energy and defensive healthcare stocks found buying interest. Traders reacted to a mixed batch of earnings data and a report showing a sharp drop in new home sales for September. Bill Adams chief economist at Comerica Bank, It said falling residential investment is likely to deduct half a percentage point from real GDP by 2023.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | -2.04% | 10,970.99 | |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.74% | 3,830.60 | |
| Dow Industrials | +0.01% | 31,839.11 |
Here’s a peek at index futures trading:
| Index | Performance (+/-) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | -0.69% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | +0.07% | |
| Dow Futures | +0.43% | |
| R2K Futures | -0.23% |
In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.05% to $382.22, while the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ fell 0.48% to $276.60, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On the economic front, the Labor Department will release its jobless claims report for the week ended October 22 at 8:30 am ET. Economists expected the number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits to rise from 214,000 last week to 220,000.
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At the same time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is scheduled to release its advance GDP report for the third quarter. The consensus estimate calls for a rebound in GDP growth to 2.4% from negative 0.6% growth in the second quarter. Traders can also analyze the report to gain insights into the health of consumer spending and inflation.
The Commerce Department will release the durable goods orders report for September, also at 8:30 am EDT.
The Treasury will auction 4-week and 8-week treasury bills at 11:30 am ET and 7-year notes at 1 pm EDT.
Stocks in Focus:
- Meta fell about 20% in premarket trading after the social media giant reported worse-than-expected bottom-line results and issued weak fourth-quarter guidance.
- Ford Motor Company F fell after it reported a profit shortfall, and adjusted its full-year adjusted EBIT guidance to the low end of its previously given range.
- ServiceNow Inc. NOW traders have begun to respond positively to the cloud computing software provider’s quarterly results.
- Teladoc Health Inc. TDOC gained about 9% in revenue results. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV BUD climbed more than 7% after the brewer raised its forecast for the year.
- UK oil giants BP Plc. BP and Shell Plc. SHELL gained about 3% in reaction to their earnings reports.
- Twitter Inc. TWTR added more than 1% amid already expectations Elon Musk the deal will be done on Friday.
- Caterpillar Inc. CAT, Comcast Corp. CMCSA, Hertz Global Holdings Inc. HTZ, McDonald’s Corp. MCD, Mastercard Inc. M.A and Merck & Co Inc. MRK was among the notable companies due to release their quarterly results before the market opened.
- Apple Inc. APPL, Amazon Inc. AMZN, US Steel Corp. X, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, Pinterest Inc. PINs and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. VRTX is scheduled to report after the market closes.
Commodities, Other Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures rose for the third straight session, with WTI grade crude rising modestly to the $88+ level.
Major Asia-Pacific markets were mostly up on Thursday, although Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian markets were under selling pressure. European stocks were mixed ahead of the European Central Bank’s rate decision due at 8:15 am EDT. Most economists expect the bank to announce a 75-basis-point increase in the key policy rate.
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