Wall Street futures inch higher after solid results from Lowe's, Target

[August 19, 2020]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday following solid earnings from retailers Target and Lowe's, a day after the S&P 500 completed its fastest recovery from a bear market in history.

Supermarket operator Target Corp <TGT.N> jumped 4.5% in premarket trade after posting its best quarterly comparable sales growth and online revenues that nearly tripled.

Home improvement chain Lowe's Companies Inc <LOW.N> rose 2.7% after beating estimates for quarterly same-store sales as it benefited from a surge in demand for its products from consumers stuck indoors.

Its larger rival Home Depot Inc <HD.N> and retail behemoth Walmart Inc <WMT.N> reported similar results on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Tuesday, completing a recovery from a dramatic pandemic-led sell-off. The Nasdaq, the first of the three main indexes to confirm a bull market in June, also closed at an all-time high.

The Dow is still nearly 6% below February's record closing high.

While trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary support and a preference for tech-related stocks have helped the benchmark surge about 55% from its March lows, the country's battered economy is still far from the pre-pandemic levels.

 A man walks a dog in the shade away from the midday sun past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building in Manhattan, during hot weather in New York City, New York, U.S., August 11, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

Minutes from Federal Reserve's meeting, set for release at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), could offer clues into the policymaker's view of the economy and its actions in September.

Market's focus is also expected to shift to U.S. presidential elections, which is about 11 weeks away. Democrats on Tuesday formally nominated Joe Biden for president. The Republican National Convention is slated for next week.

At 6:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 40 points, or 0.14%, S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 4.5 points, or 0.13% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 12 points, or 0.11%.

Among other individual movers, chipmaker Nvidia Corp <NVDA.O> inched up 0.6% after falling from a peak on Tuesday, ahead of its quarterly results after the bell.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)

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