Dow futures gain after Boeing's strong results

[October 24, 2018]  By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - Dow futures turned higher on Wednesday after planemaker Boeing's upbeat forecast bucked the earnings trend in industrial companies and eased worries about corporate profits losing steam.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Shares of Boeing <BA.N> rose 3.6 percent in premarket trading after the company topped analysts' forecast for quarterly profit and raised its annual profit per share expectation.

The report is a sharp contrast to those from industrial giants Caterpillar <CAT.N> and 3M <MMM.N> that reported dismal outlook and sent U.S. stock markets into a tailspin on Tuesday.

Earnings this week shine a spotlight on China growth risk as the effects of a sharp slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy spill beyond its borders and cut into U.S. corporate profits.

Texas Instruments <TXN.O> fell 6.7 percent after the chipmaker gave a disappointing current-quarter forecast, while Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics <STM.PA> <STM.N> signaled a slowdown in demand in China.

Chipmakers in recent quarters have struggled with oversupply, a problem that could worsen if demand for automobiles in China keeps weakening or if U.S. President Donald Trump places tariffs on Chinese products with semiconductors.

Earnings from S&P 500 companies are expected to have increased about 22 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, though 2018 is seen as a peak for the profit cycle, according to Refinitiv data.

At 7:48 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 17 points, or 0.07 percent. S&P 500 e-minis <ESc1> were down 6 points, or 0.22 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQc1> were down 9.5 points, or 0.13 percent.

Investors are awaiting results from high-growth names including Amazon <AMZN.O>, Alphabet <GOOGL.O> and Microsoft <MSFT.O> this week to see if they would continue to outshine the markets.

The technology sector <.SPLRCT>, the best performing sector this year, has lost about 6 percent so far in October, marking its worst month in six years and lowering valuations of high-growth stocks.

On the macro front, economic data at 10 a.m. ET is expected to show that new home sales for September is expected to come in at 625,000 units compared with 629,000 units in August.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a summary of the state of U.S. business across the central bank's 12 regional districts for August, is expected at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).

AT&T <BA.N> fell 3.2 percent after U.S. wireless carrier's quarterly profit missed analysts' estimates.

Tesla <TSLA.O> shares rose 3.6 percent. The company is expected to report results after the closing bell.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru)

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