Microsoft and Morgan Stanley strong earnings lift U.S. Index Futures
U.S. index futures jumped, indicating equities will continue their quest to attain new records following quarterly results from Microsoft Corp. and Morgan Stanley prompted positivity that corporate earnings can influence further gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was on track to hit a seventh consecutive all time high following good earnings from Microsoft. The Dow futures YMU6, +0.31% climbed 45 points, or 0.3%, to 18,525, after the index DJIA, +0.17% ended at an all-time high for the sixth straight session on Tuesday. The S&P 500 index futures ESU6, +0.25% rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 2,163he Nasdaq futures NQU6, +0.36% added 12 points, or 0.3%, to 4,6219.
On Tuesday, both the S&P 500 SPX, +0.17% and Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.39% ended down on Tuesday as markets responded bitterly to the disappointing quarterly results from Netflix Inc. NFLX, +0.14%. Netflix declined 13%, its worst percentage drop in a single day since October 2014. In pre-market trading Wednesday, the streaming service was up 0.9%.
Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +4.98% shares jumped 5% ahead of the bell after the Company’s earnings released late Tuesday beat analyst expectations. Microsoft said, its cloud and productivity units posted revenue growth, even as overall sales declined.
Morgan Stanley MS, +0.67% released earnings and revenue that beat most analyst’s expectations, pushing shares up 3% premarket. The report follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, -0.51% J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.08% and Citigroup Inc. C, -0.19% that also beat expectations on second quarter.
Adding to the list of corporate news, shares of Intuitive Surgical Inc. rallied 6.6% after results beat analyst’s projections, and raising its full-year forecast for surgical-procedure growth. Abbott Laboratories on the other hand climbed 1.3% as its profit beat estimates on rising demand for medical devices and generic medicines.
Averse investors are eagerly waiting for this week’s reports on jobless claims and manufacturing to shed light on the state of the economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday clashed its forecast for a pickup of pace in global growth 2016, fueling concerns that post-Brexit damage could deteriorate the conditions if confidence falls among investors and corporates.
In other markets, Asian share ended mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index NIK, -0.25% breaking a six-session winning streak. European stocks SXXP, +0.58% were almost a one-month high, boosted by some upbeat corporate results.
Oil prices CLU6, -1.56% plunged losing all its early gains ahead of weekly U.S. petroleum report released by the Energy Information Administration. Gold and silver prices GCQ6, -1.26% SIU6, -2.73% dropped and the dollar DXY, +0.15% rose against most major currencies.
