Stock-index futures point to a higher start for Wall Street for the last day of July on Friday after Apple and Amazon delivered blowout earnings and Facebook and Google parent Alphabet topped expectations.
However the lack of progress in Congress on another financial aid bill, the ongoing rise in coronavirus cases, and Thursday’s discouraging labor market data are all factors which may limit gains.
What are major benchmarks doing?
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
rose 86 points, or 0.3%, to 26,304, while S&P 500 futures
ES00,
gained 9.95 points, or 0.3%, to trade at 3,258.75. Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
NQ00,
jumped 121.50 points, or 1.1%, to 10,915.50.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
on Thursday fell 225.92 points, or 0.9%, to end at 26,313.65, while the S&P 500
SPX,
lost 12.22 points, or 0.4%, to close at 3,246.22. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
rose 44.87 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 10,587.81.
What’s driving the market?
Tech earnings were in focus following results from some of the industry’s largest and most powerful players after Thursday’s closing bell, including Apple Inc.
AAPL,
Facebook Inc.
FB,
Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL,
GOOG,
Read:Pandemic? Antitrust? No worries for Big Tech, which racked up $200 billion in sales anyway
“These impressive results will only serve to widen the divide between these huge tech behemoths and the rest of the underlying U.S. market; however, they look set to ensure that U.S. markets start the last day of the week and the month higher,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.
Cyclical stocks that rely on economic recovery like banks and retailers were lower in premarket trading Friday after data Thursday showed a rise in weekly unemployment claims.
Meanwhile, there was no progress in talks between congressional Democrats, Republicans and the White House on a new coronavirus relief bill with expanded unemployment benefits due to expire Friday. Democrats rejected a White House proposal to temporarily extend the $600-a-week in added benefits, saying the Trump administration didn’t understand the severity of the crisis.
The U.S. saw record deaths in Texas, Florida and Arizona, while California faced its second-deadliest day.
The U.S. economic calendar features June data on personal income and consumer spending at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch, on average, look for a 0.8% fall in income after a 4.2 % drop in May, while spending is forecast to rise 5.9% after an 8.2% increase.
A related measure of core inflation, the Fed’s preferred gauge of price pressures, is forecast to show just a 0.2% rise after a 0.1% increase in May.
The employment cost index is also due at 8:30 a.m., its forecast to show a 0.6% rise in the second quarter. A final reading of the University of Michigan’s July consumer sentiment index is expected to come in at 72.9.
Which companies are in focus?
- Shares of Apple were up more than 6% premarket after the iPhone maker reported record profit, crushing Wall Street expectations, and announced a 4-for-1 stock split that will change the pecking order of the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average.
- Amazon shares were up more than 5% ahead of the bell after delivering results that soared past forecasts for sales and earnings.
- Facebook shares rose 6.4% in premarket action after the social-networking giant easily topped expectations for earnings and revenue.
- Alphabet shares were trading near unchanged after the Google parent met expectations despite a dip in advertising revenue.
- Shares of Caterpillar Inc
CAT,
-2.70%
jumped more than 3% premarket after the construction-equipment giant reported earnings and revenue that fell less than expected. - Oil company Chevron Corp.
CVX,
-4.21%
fell premarket after delivering a wider-than-expected loss and revenue that lagged estimates. - Shares of Merck & Co. Inc.
MRK,
-0.45%
rose 2.8% ahead of the bell after its earnings and revenue beat expectations and the drugmaker raised its outlook.
What are other markets doing?
In Asia, China’s CSI 300 index
000300,
rose 0.8%, the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
rose 0.7%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI,
fell 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK,
slumped 2.8%.
Stocks were mostly higher in Europe, with the Stoxx 600 Europe index
SXXP,
up 0.5% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100
UKX,
little changed%.
Gold futures
GCQ20,
were on the rise, while the ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
was off 0.1%. Oil futures were edging higher, with the U.S. benchmark
CLU20,
up 0.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
fell 1.6 basis points to 0.534%. Yields move in the opposite direction of prices.
Source : MTV
