Stock futures were muted early Tuesday as investors readied for key corporate earnings releases, including reports from notable tech names.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 33 points, sitting slightly below flat. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also little changed.
Ford Motor slid about 6% after the automaker provided full-year guidance that was on the low end of its previously set range. On the other hand, North Face parent VF Corp jumped 23% after posting better-than-expected results.
Those moves come after a winning session on Wall Street for the three major indexes. Notably, the blue-chip Dow broke a five-day losing streak, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched its eighth positive session of the last nine.
Stock investors appeared to welcome a drop in oil prices, which came after weekend airstrikes from Israel toward Iran didn’t hit energy facilities as some expected. But equity gains were capped as Treasury yields continued to rise.
“One the one hand, macro conditions right now are very favorable: resilient growth, disinflation, stimulus and then relatively healthy earnings,” Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “But you have expensive stocks, and then you have this yield dynamic that’s acting as a headwind.”
Traders will keep an eye on earnings reports from major companies due on Tuesday as the busiest week of this earnings season continues. Pfizer and McDonald’s will post results before the bell, followed by Alphabet, Snap, Reddit, Chipotle and Advanced Micro Devices after the market closes.
Tech juggernauts Meta Platforms and Microsoft are slated to report on Wednesday, while Apple is up on Thursday.
On the economic front, investors will monitor job openings and labor turnover data due in the morning, the first of several reports coming this week that will provide insight into the strength of the job market. Elsewhere, stats on housing prices and consumer confidence are also expected on Tuesday.
HSBC beats third-quarter earnings expectations, announces additional $3 billion share buyback
Europe’s largest lender HSBC on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, boosted by strong revenue growth, as it embarks on a major restructuring to balance its operations in China and the West.
HSBC’s pre-tax profit rose 10% compared with the $7.7 billion posted a year ago. The company’s quarterly revenue grew 5% to $17 billion from the $16.2 billion that was reported a year ago, while after-tax profit gained $500 million from last year to $6.7 billion.
Shares of HSBC traded 2.24% higher.
—Anniek Bao, Lee Ying Shan
Japan’s unemployment rate comes in lower than expected
Japan’s jobless rate for the month of September came in at 2.4%, compared to 2.5% the month before.
The reading is also slightly lower than Reuters’ forecast of a 2.5% climb. The ratio of jobs to applicants climbed to 1.24 from 1.23 in August. Still, that’s “well below” the pre-pandemic average of 1.6, according to Moody’s Analytics.
“The lackluster domestic economy and weak external demand will likely keep employment conditions soft in the coming months,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
—Lee Ying Shan
Bitcoin briefly tops $70,000 for the first time since June
Bitcoin briefly climbed above $70,000 as investors braced themselves for MicroStrategy earnings and counted the days to the U.S. presidential election.
The price of bitcoin was last higher by about 3% at $69,925.00, according to Coin Metrics. At about 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, it touched $70,207.02 and has been oscillating since. Stocks tied to the price of the cryptocurrency were little changed in extended trading.
The last time bitcoin touched $70,000 was in June. It has tested that level several times this year, after hitting a record in March of $73,797.68. Earlier forays above $70,000 have been mere blips.
Optimism is building ahead of the U.S. presidential election next week. Bitcoin has been confined to a tight range between $55,000 and $70,000. However, it may be poised for a breakout with stocks hitting new highs this month, Election Day on Nov. 5 and another Federal Reserve rate policy decision on Nov. 7.
For more, read our full story here.
— Tanaya Macheel
MicroStrategy notches its highest close since March 2000
MicroStrategy rose about 10% on one point Monday, ahead of its earnings report Wednesday as the stock looks to extend its win streak.
The software company, which trades as a high beta play on the price of bitcoin, ended the Monday trading session up nearly 9% to record its highest close since March 15, 2000.
Bitcoin climbed closer to the $70,000 level it has struggled to hold onto this year. It was last trading higher by more than 2% at $69,502.40.
A gain this week would be the eighth in a row for the stock, and its longest since rally since an 11-week streak that ended in late October 2010. MicroStrategy is up 125% in that period.
— Tanaya Macheel, Nick Wells
See the stocks moving after hours
These are some of the stocks making the biggest moves in extended trading:
- Cadence Design Systems — The electronic design stock jumped 5% after earnings for the third quarter beat analyst expectations on both lines.
- Ford — The automaker slipped about 5% as full-year guidance came in at the low end of the previously expected range.
- VF Corporation — The North Face parent surged 22% on earnings for the second fiscal quarter that exceeded Wall Street’s consensus forecasts.
— Alex Harring
Stock futures are near flat
Futures tied to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were all little changed shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
— Alex Harring