S&P, Nasdaq futures rise as JPMorgan, Goldman set to kick off earnings season

[April 14, 2021]  By Shivani Kumaresan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday ahead of quarterly earnings reports from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, with investors expecting a strong rebound for corporate America against the backdrop of a swift vaccine-led global economic recovery.

A street sign, Wall Street, is seen outside New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., January 3, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

JPMorgan Chase & Co is expected to kick off the first-quarter earnings season for big banks at 6:45 a.m ET, followed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co later in the morning.

Analysts expect overall net income for U.S. banks to jump between 60% and 250% from a year earlier, partly as they release a chunk of "reserves" – money they had set aside last year for expected pandemic loan losses.

First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 25% in the quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data. That would be the biggest quarterly gain since 2018, when tax cuts under former President Donald Trump had powered profit growth.

Shares of Goldman Sachs were up 0.7% in premarket trading, while those of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo were flat.

At 6:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were flat, S&P 500 e-minis were up 3 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 19.75 points, or 0.14%.

The S&P 500 closed at record highs in the previous session as a jump in high-flying technology stocks helped offset the impact of stronger-than-expected inflation data and a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.

Technology stocks including Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp and Tesla Inc edged higher in early premarket deals.

Discovery Inc fell 3.9% as CNBC reported on Tuesday that Credit Suisse Group AG was still unloading its positions in the media company after losses relating to Archegos Capital Management.

(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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