Futures rise as earnings from industrial giants roll in

[January 24, 2018]  By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a positive open for Wall Street on Wednesday as a string of earnings from industrial giants buoyed market sentiment.

The absence of any further bad news in the main headlines of General Electric's <GE.N> earnings report helped its shares rise about 2 percent premarket.

GE's shares had taken a beating in the past week after the company revealed more than $11 billion in charges and hinted at the possibility of splitting itself.

United Technology <UTX.N> was up 0.7 percent after upbeat results and higher full-year profit forecast.

Ford <F.N>, scheduled to report after market closes, was up 2 percent.

At 6:58 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 60 points, or 0.23 percent, with 19,326 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 3.75 points, or 0.13 percent, with 107,170 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 7 points, or 0.1 percent, on volume of 25,548 contracts.

The dollar hit fresh lows on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the World Economic Forum that he welcomed the currency's weakness.

Worries about a protectionist stance have added to the dollar's woes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels on Monday.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The dollar's latest drop, which follows prolonged weakness in 2017, is expected to further boost profits at big U.S. companies.

Earnings growth for S&P 500 companies for the fourth-quarter is expected at 12.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning.

Of the 68 companies in the benchmark index that have posted results, 76.5 percent have topped Wall Street expectations.

Among decliners, Qualcomm <QCOM.O> slipped 1.4 percent after European anititrust regulators slapped a $1.23 billion charge on the chipmaker for paying Apple to use only Qualcomm chips.

United Continental <UAL.N> tumbled 7 percent after the airline said it plans to increase capacity, likely threatening its profit margin. American Airlines <AAL.O> fell 4.4 percent while Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> dropped 3.7 percent.

Data on existing home sales for December is expected at 10:00 a.m. ET. The data is likely to show home sales fell to 5.7 million units from 5.81 million units in November.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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