LDN - Business

Wall Street set to rebound as Wal-Mart, Cisco results impress

[November 16, 2017] By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to bounce back on Thursday after two straight days of losses on the back of strong earnings from companies, including Wal-Mart and Cisco.

* Wal-Mart <WMT.N> shares jumped more than 3 percent after the retail giant reported its 13th consecutive rise in quarterly comparable sales.

* The Dow was also expected to get a boost from Cisco <CSCO.O>, which surged 6.39 percent after reporting upbeat results.

* The S&P 500 recorded its biggest percentage decline in more than 2 months on Wednesday as energy stocks dropped, tracking crude prices, and concerns over the passage of a tax revamp after two Republican senators were critical of the proposal.

* Republicans in the House were expected to take up their own bill to cut corporate taxes after an 11:30 a.m. meeting with President Donald Trump, who wants to sign a tax reform package into law before year end.

* Data on Thursday includes weekly jobless claims, which is expected to fall to 235,000 in the week ended Nov. 11, and industrial production, which is expected to rise 0.5 percent in October.

* Upbeat data on Wednesday added to expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates again next month as well as multiple times next year.

* Folgers coffee maker J M Smucker rose 2.34 percent and Viacom gained 2 percent after reporting results.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

* Mattel slipped 3.6 percent after Reuters reported the toy maker has rebuffed Hasbro's latest takeover approach, according to people familiar with the matter.

* Procter & Gamble rose 2 percent after activist hedge fund manager Nelson Peltz claimed victory in his fight to win a seat on the company's board after a preliminary tally of votes was released, but P&G refused to concede.

* Best Buy slipped 4 percent as quarterly same-store sales came in below estimates hurt by a late launch of iPhone X.

Futures snapshot at 6:57 a.m. ET (1057 GMT):

* Dow e-minis were up 48 points, or 0.21 percent, with 24,582 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.75 points, or 0.3 percent, with 172,252 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24.5 points, or 0.39 percent, on volume of 32,744 contracts.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva

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