Mobius Capital Partners founder Mark Mobius argues this year will produce ‘good earnings reports’ because the economic recovery ‘will be greater than people imagined.’
U.S. equity futures are pointing to a mixed open when the Wednesday trading session begins.
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Dow futures suggest a decline of 0.4%, while the Nasdaq indicates a gain of 0.4%.
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Microsoft shares are giving the Nasdaq a boost after the software giant said its fiscal second-quarter net income rose more than 30% to $15.5 billion. Sales advanced 17% to $43.1 billion. Both figures topped analyst expectations. Shares were up 4% in after-hours trading.
The Fed is expected to keep its extremely supportive policy stance unchanged given the slow progress in vanquishing the pandemic, analysts said.
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Markets have meandered since last week as investors weighed solid corporate earnings results against renewed worries that troubles with COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and the spread of new variants of coronavirus might delay a recovery from the pandemic.
The reality that President Joe Biden’s $1.9 billion stimulus package won’t be “rubber stamped” by the U.S. Senate is also weighing on sentiment.
Quarterly earnings reports are expected on Wednesday from Boeing, AT&T, Apple, Facebook and Tesla.
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On the economic calendar, the Census Bureau is expected to say that new orders for manufactured big-ticket items rose 0.9% month-over-month in December. If you factor out the transportation component orders are anticipated to edge up 0.5%. Orders for core capital goods, a closely-watched proxy for business spending, are also seen rising 0.6% for the month.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.3%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.3% and China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 30937.04 | -22.96 | -0.07% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3849.62 | -5.74 | -0.15% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 13626.064934 | -9.93 | -0.07% |
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 3,849.62 but was within 0.2% of the record high it set Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1%, to 30,937.04. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also slid 0.1%, to 13,626.06.
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In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 35 cents to $52.96 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gave up 16 cents to $52.77 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 37 cents to $56.28 per barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
