Stock futures rise with earnings in focus

[February 09, 2017]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors assessed a raft of quarterly earnings reports.

Dow component Coke slipped 0.8 percent to $41.67 after the beverage maker reported its seventh straight quarter of declining revenue.

Twitter dropped 7.6 percent after the microblogging website reported a 1 percent rise in quarterly revenue, its slowest growth since going public.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies is estimated to have risen 8.3 percent, the highest in nine quarters.

Still, Wall Street's reaction to a largely positive earnings season has been muted as investors remain cautious amid policy uncertainty under newly elected President Donald Trump.

Although the S&P 500 has been hovering close to its all-time high, it has struggled to breach the level since Jan 27. The index has not moved more than 1 percent in either direction since Dec. 7.

Oil prices were up 0.9 percent, rising for the second straight day, supported by an unexpected draw in U.S. gasoline inventories. [O/R]

A report on weekly jobless claims and comments from a couple of U.S. Federal Reserve officials may help set the tone for trading.

The Dow closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by bank stocks, while the S&P and the Nasdaq ended slightly higher.
was flat for the second day, while gold was slightly lower after hitting its highest level in nearly three months on Wednesday.

Tesla rose 4.5 percent to $273.27 after the electric carmaker told Reuters it would shut down production at its California assembly plant for a week this month to prepare for production of its high-volume Model 3 sedan.

A screen displays the stock price of Twitter above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Regeneron rose marginally $356 after the biotech company reported an 11.7 percent jump in quarterly revenue, helped by higher demand for its flagship eye drug.

CVS rose 1.3 percent after the pharmacy store chain reported a jump in quarterly revenue.

Activision Blizzard, News Corp and Nvidia are scheduled to report after markets close.

Futures snapshot at 6:56 a.m. ET:

Dow e-minis were up 33 points, or 0.16 percent, with 13,839 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.75 points, or 0.21 percent, with 86,944 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7 points, or 0.13 percent, on volume of 14,557 contracts.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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