Futures rise on Pepsi's revenue beat, M&A cheer

[July 13, 2020]  By Medha Singh and Devik Jain

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday as Pepsi kicked off the second-quarter earnings season on a bright note, with a multi-billion dollar semiconductor deal also lifting the mood.

Analog Devices Inc <ADI.O> rose 0.9% in premarket trading as it offered to buy peer Maxim Integrated Products Inc <MXIM.O> for $20.91 billion in an all-stock deal. Maxim shares jumped 17%.

Pepsi Co <PEP.N> gained 2.1% as it benefited from a surge in at-home consumption of salty snacks such as Fritos and Cheetos during lockdowns.

The strong results offered some cheer as investors are bracing for what could be the sharpest drop in quarterly earnings for S&P 500 firms since the financial crisis, according to IBES Refinitiv data. Results from big banks will be in focus this week.

The April-June reports will reveal the extent of the damage wreaked by the coronavirus-induced lockdowns on corporate profits. With a record jump in cases in the United States and some other hotspots around the world, analysts have predicted a return to S&P 500 earnings growth only by 2021.

Recent economic data, however, has pointed to a revival in business activity, helping the Nasdaq clinch its sixth record close in seven weeks on Friday as broader markets rose on positive data from Gilead's potential COVID-19 treatment.

The S&P 500 is about 6% below its own record high hit in February.

At 6:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 139 points, or 0.54%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 13.5 points, or 0.42% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 62.75 points, or 0.58%.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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