US futures fell largely as investors waited for a hard day of earnings reports and a Federal Reserve meeting.
Futures on the broad S&P 500 index fell 0.8% and Dow Jones Industrial Industrial futures fell 0.7%. Nasdaq-100 technology futures fell 0.1%.
Investors were gearing up for one of the busiest days of the quarterly earnings season, with Boeing reporting ahead of the opening bell. Earnings from technology giants Apple,
Facebook and Tesla are due immediately after the market closes. Investors are eager to see how those companies did during a quarter marked by continuous foreclosures and home orders.
“The bar for exceeding technology stocks is quite high because we were still stuck and yet it seems to be doing well against those higher expectations,” said Hani Redha, portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments.
Shares of Microsoft gained 3.5% ahead of the opening bell after the company reported record quarterly sales on Tuesday. Its shares closed at a new high on Tuesday.
The Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 5.7% in premarket trading after the pharmacy chain named Rosalind Brewer, chief operating officer of Starbucks, its next chief executive officer.
Earnings have so far delighted the market, and investors continue to bet on the Federal Reserve’s financial support and a possible stimulus plan from the Biden administration. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 reached a new intraday level before slipping in the last minutes of trading.
“The Fed and the new Biden stimulus plans – it’s all a very positive context for the equity market,” said Brian Walsh, Jr., a portfolio manager at Walsh & Nicholson Financial Group. “They say we will not let the markets fail right now, and with bond yields as low as these, there is nowhere else.”
The Fed is expected to leave monetary policy unchanged, and President Jerome Powell is likely to emphasize the bank’s commitment to supporting the economy with low interest rates and bond purchases in the near future. Powell is likely to face questions about the health of the economy and how long the Fed’s stimulus measures will remain in place.
GameStop grew by more than 90% in premarket trading, as day traders, motivated by social media, seemed ready to pile up in the retailer for another day. The stock rose 113% on Tuesday amid a battle between individual investors and short-term hedge funds. After the markets closed on Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter “Gamestonk !!” in an apparent reference to frantic trading.
Long-term goods order data will be posted at 8:30 AM ET. The figures are expected to show an eighth consecutive monthly increase in orders, highlighting the resilience of producers during the pandemic.
In commodity markets, Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose 0.7 percent to $ 56.01 a barrel. Gold prices fell 0.4 percent to $ 1,844.30 an ounce.
Abroad, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.5%, while in Asia, stock indices were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%, while in mainland China, Shanghai Composite rose 0.1%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 reached a new intraday level before slipping in the last minutes of trading.
Photo:
Nicole Pereira / Associated Press
Write to Will Horner to [email protected]
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