|
 * Investors are focused on the outcome of the Fed's two-day policy
meeting with markets divided on whether it will take a hawkish or
dovish stance. No move on rates is expected this week.
* In a recent congressional testimony, Fed Chair Janet Yellen
neither ruled out a September interest rate hike nor guided the
market toward thinking it was a done deal. The statement is expected
at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT).
* U.S. interest rates have remained near zero for nearly a decade.
Higher rates increase the cost of borrowing for companies.
* Pledges from Chinese regulators to buy shares to stabilize stocks
if needed and hints of more policy easing from the central bank also
soothed sentiments.
* With second-quarter reports well under way, analysts now expect
overall earnings of S&P 500 companies to edge up 0.3 percent and
revenue to decline 4.0 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* Companies expected to report on Wednesday include MasterCard <MA.N>
before the bell while Facebook <FB.O> and MetLife <MET.N> are
scheduled after the close.
* Twitter <TWTR.N> shares fell more than 11 percent to $32.50 in
premarket trading after the microblogging company said its number of
monthly average users rose at the slowest pace since it went public
in 2013.
[to top of second column] |
* Yelp <YELP.N> slumped 20.4 percent to $26.65 after the operator of
consumer review website Yelp.com, reported a surprise loss and
forecast revenue for the current quarter that fell far below market
expectations.
* Akamai Technologies <AKAM.O> was down 10.4 percent at $66 after
the online content distributor forecast third-quarter revenue and
profit below estimates.
* Gilead Sciences <GILD.O> rose 4.5 percent to $118.17 after the
company raised its outlook for 2015 product sales by $1 billion.
Futures snapshot at 7:14 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 4.25 points, or 0.2 percent, with
119,650 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 11.5 points, or 0.25 percent, on
volume of 17,114 contracts.
* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 42 points, or 0.24 percent, with
12,580 contracts changing hands.
(Editing by Don Sebastian)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
