Dow futures hit by 3M results; upbeat tech results support Nasdaq

[April 25, 2019]   By Sruthi Shankar

(Reuters) - Dow and S&P futures were pressured by a steep fall in industrial company 3M's shares on Thursday, while upbeat results from high-flying companies Facebook and Microsoft supported Nasdaq futures.

Investors are assessing earnings reports from some of the biggest U.S. companies this week to see if the strong run-up in market since the start of the year is justified as the main Wall Street indexes hover below all-time highs.

The S&P 500 is trading roughly 0.5% below its intraday record hit in late September, while the Nasdaq hit an intra-day record high on Wednesday but failed to close at those levels.

"As the earnings season gains potency, the missing link to a stronger upward move is low volume, suggesting a cautious attitude by investors," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

3M Co's shares tumbled 9.1% in premarket trading after the company said it would lay off 2,000 workers globally as it reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its 2019 earnings forecast.

Microsoft Corp gained 5% after the company beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly results and predicted continued growth for its cloud computing business.

After a 23% rally in its shares this year, the software company is set to topple Apple Inc as the most valuable publicly listed U.S. company.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Facebook Inc jumped 8.4% after the social media giant's quarterly profit blew past Wall Street's profit estimates and the company set aside $3 billion to cover a settlement with U.S. regulators.

At 7:18 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 104 points, or 0.39%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.25 points, or 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 17.5 points, or 0.22%.

Among other movers, Lam Research gained 4.8% after the semiconductor equipment maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Amazon.com Inc, Intel Corp and Ford Motor Co are among the big names set to report results after the bell.

Economic data due at 8:30 a.m. ET is expected to show new orders for U.S. core capital goods rebounded in March, after falling unexpectedly in February.

Separately, a Labor Department report is expected to show the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rising 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 200,000 for the week ended April 20.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Date: 04/25/2019 06:54 AM

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