Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Friday with eyes on blue-chip earnings as markets stand ready to evaluate any messages from Donald Trump as he swears in to the U.S. presidency.
The blue-chip Dow futures inched up 1 point, or 0.01%, by 7:17AM ET (12:17GMT), the S&P 500 futures advanced 3 points, or 0.13%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11 points, or 0.21%.
Ten weeks after shocking the world by winning the U.S. election, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States at approximately 12:00PM ET (17:00GMT) on Friday in Washington, D.C.
Though equities initially rallied after the surprise result on hopes that Trump would embark on implementing fiscal policies to spur growth and cut taxes, stocks have recently been cautious with the Dow itself ending down in the prior five sessions.
Trump failed to offer details on his promises to boost fiscal spending and cut taxes at a highly-anticipated news conference last week.
In that light, investors will welcome any detail he may give on his promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation, as well as insight regarding policies on China and the domestic economy.
On a day lacking in any major economic reports stateside, investors would chew over earnings from Dow components.
After the close Thursday, IBM (NYSE:IBM) reported its 19th straight quarter of declining revenue, though the firm was upbeat on newer segments that allowed it to forecast full-year earnings that beat the Street. Shares slid around 1.5% in trading ahead of the market open.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) produced a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as the credit card issuer boosted spending on marketing and promotion to fend off rising competition. Shares slumped more than 2% in pre-market trade.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) produced mixed results with earnings-per-share of $0.69 coming out in line, but revenue falling more than expected to $33.09 billion, compared to forecasts for $34.89 billion. GE saw its stock drop 1% in pre-market trade.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) was the bright light in blue-chip quarterly reports as the firm beat on both the top and bottom line. Shares were up 2% in pre-market trade.
As of Thursday, 54 S&P 500 firms had reported fourth quarter.
Earnings trend analysis firm The Earnings Scout noted that while sales and earnings growth are so far up slightly from the prior quarter, the beat rates had decreased.
Meanwhile, oil rose more than 1% on Friday on the back of strong growth numbers from China.
The world’s second largest economy registered a 6.8% expansion in the fourth quarter that beat expectations for it to remain unchanged at 6.7% and suggested that China’s economic slowdown may have bottomed out.
Still, investors will keep an eye on data from Baker Hughes out later on Friday to take stock of how U.S. shale drillers are responding to higher prices.
According to last week’s most recent data from the oilfield services provider, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by 7 to 522. That was the first decline in the oil-rig count in 10 weeks.
This weekend market participants will also be looking for any clues on the landmark agreement among major oil producers to cut production by nearly 1.8 million barrels per day.
A monitoring committee charged with tracking adherence to the global deal is due to meet in Vienna for the first time on January 22.
U.S. crude futures gained 1.09% to $52.69 by 7:18AM ET (12:18GMT), while Brent oil traded up 1.22% to $54.82.