Futures inch down as investors wait for more earnings

[July 17, 2023]  By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Monday after last week's strong gains, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of quarterly results from industry heavyweights through the week.

Second-quarter earnings are gathering momentum, with Tesla due to report on Wednesday, while Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Netflix are also lined up through the rest of the week.

Of the 30 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings as of Friday, 80% beat analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv data.

At 7:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 86 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 7 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 5 points, or 0.03%.

The three major U.S. indexes ended last week over 2% higher after consumer prices and producer prices data provided evidence that the economy had entered a disinflation phase, stoking hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon end its monetary policy tightening.

On Friday, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup showed big U.S. banks got a profit boost from higher rates and painted a picture of a resilient economy, with sparks of hope in some businesses like deal-making that have been in the dumps of late.

The strong opening rally in lenders, however, quickly fizzled out with most financials ending the session lower as investors feared things were as good as they would get for a while.

"While U.S. stocks have done extremely well in the first half of 2023, companies are going to have to pull a rabbit out of the hat if they are to sustain this momentum," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

In trading before the bell, Tesla <TSLA.O> gained 1.6% after the company said on Sunday it had built its first Cybertruck, after two years of delays.

Activision Blizzard rose 4.0% after Microsoft said it has signed an agreement to keep "Call of Duty" on PlayStation following its acquisition.

Also helping the stock, a U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected the Federal Trade Commission's request to pause Microsoft's $69 billion purchase.

Meta Platforms slid 1.0% after Norway's data protection authority said the social media firm will be fined $100,000 per day over privacy breaches unless it takes remedial action.

Lackluster Chinese economic data weighed on investors' minds on Monday as the world's second largest economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter.

During the week, investors also await retail sales and new homes figures for June.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Maju Samuel)

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