Futures subdued with focus on pharma earnings, rate expectations

[February 06, 2024]  (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were muted on Tuesday with earnings from pharma companies on the radar, while investors looked ahead to commentary from Federal Reserve officials for clues on the timing of the central bank's first interest-rate cut.

Eli Lilly rose 2.9% in premarket trading ahead of reporting fourth-quarter results, with investor focus trained on the performance of its weight-loss drug.

Earnings from GE Healthcare, Centene and Spirit Aerosystems, among others, are also due before the bell. Auto giant Ford, Edwards Lifesciences and VF Corp are expected to report after the session.

Given the restrictive credit conditions and persistent slowdown concerns, forecasts issued by businesses are in the spotlight. The ratio of negative to positive EPS forecasts issued by S&P 500 firms stands at 2.5, according to LSEG data on Friday, compared to a fiscal-year average of 2.2.

Wall Street kicked off the week on a glum note in the previous session on the heels of a rally that saw the benchmark S&P 500 notching 13 weekly gains out of 14, aided by largely positive quarterly earnings from corporations and optimism that an interest-rate cut by the Fed might be just around the corner.

However, after the central bank's policy meeting last week, policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell, have resumed talking down market expectations for a quick start to the monetary policy easing cycle, while strong labor market and economic activity data have also fed into rate-cut uncertainty.

With inflation cooling and the labor market returning to a "better balance" without unemployment rising significantly, Deutsche Bank said it no longer expects the U.S. economy to tip into a recession this year.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 29, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Traders are betting with a nearly 65% chance that at least a 25-basis-point rate cut could be delivered in May, down from around 90% over a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

A number of policymakers are also lined up to speak through the day, including Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, a voting member this year.

At 5:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 85 points, or 0.22%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 26.5 points, or 0.15%.

Among top movers, Palantir Technologies jumped 18.5% after the data analytics firm forecast annual profit above Street estimates, reporting its "first profitable year" on strong demand for its AI offerings.

FMC Corp tumbled 14.4% after forecasting downbeat first-quarter profit, as the crop-protection product supplier anticipates lower sales volumes amid destocking across regions.

U.S. shares of Chinese firms such as Li Auto Bilibili and Tencent Music surged between 2.7% and 8.6%, tracking optimism in mainland China on a slew of signals that authorities are strengthening their resolve to support slumping markets.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru)

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