Futures rise on earnings optimism, Disney climbs on revamp plan

[February 09, 2023]   (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday as a slew of strong quarterly earnings lifted sentiment after worries that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer had fueled losses on Wall Street a day earlier.

Walt Disney Co climbed 6.6% in premarket trading after topping earnings estimates and announcing 7,000 job cuts as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion in costs and make its streaming business profitable.

Casino stocks Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International gained about 5% each after reporting fourth-quarter results, with Wynn indicating a meaningful return of visitation and demand in Macau during the recent Chinese New Year holiday period.

PepsiCo Inc rose 1.4% as the soda maker reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Tobacco firm Philip Morris International Inc, drugmaker Abbvie Inc, apparel maker Ralph Lauren Corp and cereal maker Kellogg Co are all set to report earnings during the day.

Of more than half of the S&P 500 companies that have reported fourth-quarter results so far, 69% have topped analysts' earnings estimates, as per Refinitiv IBES data. In a typical quarter 66% top estimates.

U.S. stock indexes have enjoyed an upbeat start to the year, largely driven by hopes that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest rate-hike cycle and data signaling resilience in the economy.

However, equity markets have wavered in the recent days as Fed officials acknowledged the cooling in U.S. inflation but said that more interest rate rises are in the cards amid evidence of a still-strong labor market.

Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

Data at 8:30 a.m. ET is expected to show the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to 190,00 in the week ended Feb. 4, after an increase of 183,00 in the previous week.

Megacap stocks including Meta Platforms, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Google-parent Alphabet climbed in the range of 1% to 2% as U.S. Treasury yields extended declines. [US/]

At 5:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 254 points, or 0.75%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 37.25 points, or 0.9%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 162.5 points, or 1.3%.

Tesla Inc firmed 3.7% as a U.S. safety board said it found no evidence a Tesla Model S was operating on Autopilot during an April 2021 fatal crash.

Salesforce Inc edged 1.6% higher as a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that hedge fund Third Point LLC owns a stake in the company.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar, Medha Singh and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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