Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat to higher open as market players digested a deluge of earnings and watched political developments in Washington, D.C. as talks on healthcare collapse.
The blue-chip Dow futures inched up 5 points, or 0.02%, at 7:46AM ET (11:46GMT), the S&P 500 futures slipped 2 points, or 0.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 6 points, or 0.11%.
Wall Street was awash with reactions to earnings on Tuesday with several reports still on tap.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) soared nearly 11% in pre-market trade Tuesday after reporting after the prior market close a jump in subscriber growth that beat expectations.
In a big move to the downside, Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) saw shares sink 9% in pre-market trade as the motorcycle maker forecast a decline in shipments.
Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) gained 2% after the blue chip healthcare products firm said earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.83 in the second quarter, beating expectations for $1.80.
Fellow Dow component, shares in UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) were little changed after the health and well-being firm beat on both the top and bottom line.
Among other blue-chip firms reporting on Tuesday, shares in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initially took a hit, falling more than 1% in pre-market trade after the broker reported a 0.5% drop in revenue. Shares had since recovered somewhat and investors appeared to find solace in the better-than-expected numbers and were last off only 0.3% in volatile trade.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) will release its own numbers after the market close.
Outside the blue chip index, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was off 0.4% despite releasing numbers that beat on both the top and bottom line.
On the political front, a second attempt by Republicans to replace Obamacare collapsed, delivering a major policy blow to the Trump administration.
Republican Senators Jerry Moran and Mike Lee announced their opposition to a revised Republican healthcare bill late on Monday.
The setback triggered a selloff in the dollar, with the greenback falling to 11-month lows against major rivals.
Also on the Hill, Republicans in the House of Representatives took a first step toward tax reform, with the release of a fiscal 2018 budget plan that would allow a tax reform package to pass Congress without support from Democrats.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, bouncing back after yesterday’s decline of more than 1% as market players continued to weigh strong demand against the global supply glut.
U.S. crude futures gained 0.85% to $46.41 by 7:13AM ET (11:13GMT), while Brent oil traded up 0.95% to $48.88.
Elsewhere, European stock markets edged lower, with Germany's DAX down around 1%, following disappointing results from bluechips Ericsson (BS:ERICAs) and Lufthansa (DE:LHAG) and a worse-than-expected reading on German investor morale.
Earlier, Asian shares stepped back from more than two-year highs, with Japanese stocks falling in reaction to a stronger yen, while Chinese stocks stabilized after Monday’s slump.