Futures rise on Trump tax talk; earnings in focus

[April 25, 2017]  By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday, building on a day-earlier rally as investors assessed quarterly earnings, while awaiting a major tax plan from President Donald Trump.

* Trump promised last week to make "a big tax reform and tax reduction" announcement on Wednesday. The President has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.

* Trump also indicated his openness to delaying his push to secure funds for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government.

* Investor sentiment took a turn over the weekend after centrist and pro-European Union candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election.

* Global stocks, including Wall Street, rallied on the outcome of the vote on Monday, while investors prepared for a busy week of corporate earnings.

* Results from corporate heavyweights, including McDonald's <MCD.N> and Caterpillar <CAT.N>, could determine whether the positive momentum in the market will continue on Tuesday.

* The Conference Board is expected to release a reading of its consumer confidence index for April at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT). A report on home prices is also due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

* Express Scripts  tumbled nearly 14 percent premarket after announcing that its biggest customer, Anthem <ANTM.N>, was unlikely to renew its contract, which ends in 2019.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* Biogen <BIIB.O> jumped nearly 5 percent to $290 after the drugmaker reported quarterly revenue that beat analysts' expectations.

* Straight Path jumped nearly 6 percent to $117.90 after saying it received a $104.64 per-share all-stock buyout offer from a "multi-national telecommunications company", topping AT&T's  $95.63 per share offer.

Futures snapshot at 6:57 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis were up 60 points, or 0.29 percent, with 17,824 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were up 3.75 points, or 0.16 percent, with 94,118 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were up 9.5 points, or 0.17 percent, on volume of 18,145 contracts.

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

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