Futures rise as earnings continue to be prime focus

[October 27, 2016]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors focused on the third-quarter corporate results season which is expected to mark an end to a year-long earnings recession.

Profits at S&P 500 companies have largely exceeded analysts' estimates for the third quarter so far, setting up for the first profit growth since the second quarter of 2015.

Overall earnings for the S&P 500 companies in the latest quarter are expected to rise 2.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Financial companies are expected to outshine the rest of the benchmark index, while the energy sector will most likely be the top laggard.

Apple's weak results and forecast weighed on the S&P and the Nasdaq on Wednesday, while a rally in Boeing lifted the Dow.

Investors will also keep an eye on a set of economic data on Thursday, including a report on initial jobless claims that likely fell to 250,000 last week. Another report is expected to show U.S. manufactured capital goods likely rose for a fourth straight month. Both reports are due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).

The data will play into the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates at its policy meeting next week. Though a rate hike is not the likely outcome of the meeting that falls days before the U.S. presidential election, traders expect the Fed to chalk a more definite path for a move in December.

Shares of NXP Semiconductors rose 3.3 percent to $101.90 in premarket trading after Qualcomm said it would buy the chipmaker for $47 billion in enterprise value. Qualcomm rose 2.1 percent. Fellow chipmaker Micron Tech also rose.

Google parent Alphabet  and online retailer Amazon.com were up about 0.5 percent ahead of quarterly results scheduled after market close.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Tesla jumped 5.24 percent to $212.83 after the electric carmaker reported its first quarterly net profit in more than three years.

Bristol-Myers rose nearly 4 percent after the drugmaker reported third-quarter revenue that beat estimates and increased its full-year profit forecast.

Futures snapshot at 7:00 a.m. ET:

Dow e-minis  were up 25 points, or 0.14 percent, with 29,662 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.25 points, or 0.2 percent, with 154,670 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.18 percent, on volume of 24,336 contracts.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)

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