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Coca-Cola up as Q1 results beat estimates
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Bed Bath & Beyond tumbles on bankruptcy protection filing
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US House to vote on Republican debt limit bill this week
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Futures down: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.07%, Nasdaq 0.01%
(Updates prices, adds analyst's comment)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a muted
open on Monday ahead of a busy week for earnings, with investors
also awaiting key data that could shed light on the U.S. economy
and shape the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
Major technology and growth companies Alphabet Inc , Microsoft Corp , Amazon.com Inc and
Meta Platforms Inc , which constitute more than 14% of
the value of the benchmark S&P 500 , are scheduled to
report results this week.
A rally in these stocks has supported Wall Street this year,
and investors are waiting to see if the gains can continue amid
a gloomy economic outlook.
"Not only must these companies beat, but they must also
guide to a re-acceleration of EPS growth in the second quarter
and beyond ... that's what the Street is looking for," said
Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research.
U.S. stocks have largely held steady through the start of the
earnings season as results from big banks came in stronger than
expected, allaying concerns about a contagion from the banking
crisis in March.
Investors will also be watching out for signs of elevated
inflation and an economic slowdown pressuring margins of
consumer companies.
Boosting sentiment, Coca-Cola Co gained 2% in
premarket trading after the beverage giant beat estimates for
quarterly results on resilient demand for its sodas despite
multiple price increases.
Of the 90 S&P 500 companies that have reported first-quarter
results so far, nearly 77% have topped analysts' profit
estimates, as per Refinitiv IBES data. The long-term average
beat rate stands at 66%.
Forecasts for earnings have also improved marginally, with analysts expecting a quarterly profit contraction of 4.7% versus a 5.1% decline estimated at the start of April. Early readings of first-quarter U.S. GDP, personal consumer expenditure index (PCE) for March, consumer confidence numbers for April are among the data scheduled for release this week.
Mixed economic numbers last week cemented bets of another 25-basis-point rate hike by the Fed in May, with money market traders pricing in an 85% chance of such a move, as per CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
Meanwhile, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin
McCarthy said the House would vote on his spending and debt bill
this week amid lingering concerns that the U.S. government could
hit its debt ceiling sooner than expected.
"Based mostly on history, we seem to resolve this before we
have a real crisis," said Hugh Johnson, chief economist of Hugh
Johnson Economics. "But it's not clear that the House Speaker
has a good plan out there and that it's going to be acceptable."
At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 41 points,
or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.75 points, or
0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 1.25 points, or
0.01%.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc's shares tumbled 25.3% as the
home goods retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
after it failed to secure funds to stay afloat.
First Republic Bank gained 1.5%. The regional bank,
whose shares have sunk 88% this year triggered by the U.S.
banking crisis, is set to report results after market closes on
Monday.
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US tech stocks regain some lost ground ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
