LDN - Business

Futures struggle for direction as earnings, rate outlook in focus

[February 07, 2024] By Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Wednesday, with investors taking stock of major corporate earnings from the likes of Ford and Snap while continuing to look out for more clues from policymakers on the outlook for interest-rate cuts.

Ford Motor jumped 6% in premarket trading after the automaker increased its first-quarter dividend and decided to scale back investments in new capacity for loss-making electric vehicles. General Motors also added 1.4%.

On the flip side, Snap slumped 32.3% on missing quarterly revenue estimates, as the Snapchat-owner struggled to compete for advertising dollars against heavyweights such as Meta and Alphabet . Peer Pinterest shed 3.8%.

Among others, Uber Technologies forecast quarterly core profit and gross bookings above estimates. However, its shares were last down 1.7% in choppy trade.

Fortinet jumped 9.5% on the cybersecurity firm's fourth-quarter profit beat, while U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding climbed 1.3% after the Chinese company announced an increase of $25 billion to its share repurchase program.

With over half of S&P 500 companies having reported earnings, 81.2% surpassed expectations, according to LSEG data on Tuesday. Overall, S&P 500 companies' fourth-quarter earnings are expected to have risen 8.1% from the year-ago quarter.

Wall Street hit a banal patch this week following a stellar performance in the months before that saw the benchmark S&P 500 extend a bull-market run on widely resilient earnings and optimism around rate cuts this year.

With Chair Jerome Powell ruling out a March rate reduction, traders are awaiting fresh clues from central bankers on the timing of the policy easing, most of whom have refrained from issuing a timeline against the backdrop of a resilient economy.

"Market sentiment has been more 'glass half full' as fresh comments from policymakers poured out about the progress made on inflation," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., February 6, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

"Nevertheless, they have all warned that there is still work to be done, a message likely to be drummed home when other Fed governors speak later today."

Focus is squarely on remarks from Fed officials including Governor Adriana Kugler, voting member Thomas Barkin and Susan Collins expected through the day.

At 7:07 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 55 points, or 0.14%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 8 points, or 0.05%.

Among other big movers, New York Community Bancorp lost 3.3%, set to extend a week-long sell-off after analysts expressed caution about "governance risks" at the bank and as Moody's downgraded the lender's long-term debt ratings to junk status.

Gilead Sciences lost 2% as fourth-quarter revenue dipped 4%, while VF Corp shed 7.5% after missing expectations for third-quarter results, with the Vans sneaker maker also announcing CFO Matt Puckett's exit this year.

Enphase Energy surged 14.4% as the solar inverter maker expects inventory levels to normalize and demand for its products to pick up by the end of second quarter.

Warner Bros Discovery gained 2.5% on the company's plans to launch a sports streaming service with Fox Corp and Walt Disney's ESPN later this autumn. Sports streaming platform FuboTV plunged 10.8% on competition concerns.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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