Futures rise after upbeat results from Walmart, Home Depot

[May 18, 2021]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures climbed on Tuesday after better-than-expected results from Walmart and Home Depot signaled strength in consumer demand against the backdrop of rising prices.

People are seen on Wall St. outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Walmart, the world's biggest retailer gained 1.5% after raising its full-year earnings forecast as additional stimulus checks increased spending for apparel and electronics.

Top U.S. home improvement retailer Home Depot's shares rose 2.3% in premarket trading after beating quarterly same-store sales estimates, as demand remained strong even as vaccinations opened up more traditional avenues for consumers to spend their money.

Wall Street's main indexes fell on Monday on fears that an overheating economy could prompt the Federal Reserve to rein in its monetary support following a spike in volatility last week after strong inflation readings.

The benchmark S&P 500 is about 2% from its all-time high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is about 6% from its April 29 record high.

Fund managers trimmed their overweight positions on technology stocks to a three-year low as inflation worries left growth stocks vulnerable to a pullback, and turned overweight on UK stocks for the first time in sever years, a survey from Bank of America showed.

Dallas Fed Bank President Robert Kaplan repeated his view that the central bank could raise interest rates before the end of 2022 and that he would support trimming back its asset purchases sooner rather than later.

Minutes from the Fed's April policy meeting will be parsed on Wednesday for the central bank's view of the economy.

At 7:03 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 79 points, or 0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 92 points, or 0.69%.

Macy's climbed 4% after the department store operator reported better-than-expected quarterly comparable sales growth.

Wells Fargo & Co dipped 0.5% after Berkshire Hathaway Inc has sold nearly all of its holdings in the lender, abandoning a more than 31-year-old investment.

China's Baidu Inc gained 3.4% after reporting a 25% rise in quarterly revenue, powered by advertising on its core search and video-streaming platforms.

Shares of EV charging equipment makers Chargepoint Holdings and Blink Charging Co gained 1.7% and 2.6% as President Joe Biden was set to make the case for his $174 billion electric vehicle plan on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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