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U.S. stock futures flat after new Dow record, Tesla jumps 7%

Published 08/03/2017, 06:30 AM
Updated 08/03/2017, 06:30 AM
© Reuters.  Wall Street futures point to flat open ahead of non-manufacturing data

© Reuters. Wall Street futures point to flat open ahead of non-manufacturing data

Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday after the Dow broke 22,000 points for the first time ever in the prior session, while investors waited for the last big wave of earnings and looked ahead to some key data later in the session.

The blue-chip Dow futures slipped 9 points, or 0.04%, at 6:25AM ET (10:25GMT), the S&P 500 futures edged down 2 points, or 0.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 2 points, or 0.08%.

As of Wednesday night, 350 of the S&P 500 firms had reported earnings with 72% having beat consensus on earnings and 71% topping sales estimates, according to The Earnings Scout.

In that context, market players were bracing Thursday for reports from dozens of firms in what would be one of the last big waves of reports for the second quarter reporting season.

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) was set to be one of the big movers on Thursday with shares rising nearly 7% in pre-market trade.

The electric carmaker reported quarterly revenue that doubled late on Wednesday while revealing more than 1,800 daily reservations for the Model 3 and predicting increased Model S deliveries in the second half of 2017.

Also on watch ahead of the opening bell, results are due from Aetna (NYSE:AET), Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), Kellogg (NYSE:K), Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H), Teva (NYSE:TEVA), Allergan (NYSE:AGN), Clorox (NYSE:CLX), Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID), Grubhub (NYSE:GRUB), and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK).

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), Viacom (NASDAQ:VIA), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED), GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO), Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) and Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) report after the market close.

On the economic front, investors seemed to be on pause ahead of Friday’s monthly employment report which will be closely followed to gauge how developments in the U.S. labor market, particularly with regard to wage inflation, will impact the Federal Reserve's view on monetary policy.

Thursday’s economic calendar will also reveal some key data with the publication of weekly jobless claims at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT), followed by the ISM non-manufacturing survey for July, along with June factory orders at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).

Elsewhere, market players were keeping an eye on UK monetary policy.

The Bank of England will announce its rate decision at 7:00AM ET (11:00GMT) and also publish its quarterly inflation report at the same time.

BoE Governor Mark Carney will hold a press conference starting a half an hour after the announcement.

Sluggish economic data since the British central bank's June meeting combined with deep uncertainty about the impact of Brexit appears to suggest that the BoE is likely to hold rates at current record low levels.

The major focus will likely be on whether Andy Haldane will join the two hawks on the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee in a call to raise rates, though the other five members are widely expected to keep policy unchanged.

Though some experts point to some uncertainty surrounding Haldane’s final decision, consensus sees the vote likely to show six in favor of no changes with the other two, Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders, repeating their call for an increase in interest rates.

While waiting for the announcement, the cable was slightly higher, pulling back from an 11-month high of 1.3266 hit earlier on Thursday after a positive read on service sector activity.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 92.82 in early trade after touching a 15-month low of 92.39 in the prior session.

Meanwhile, oil prices were higher Thursday as investors viewed weekly U.S. inventory data on crude and refined products out a day earlier as bullish.

U.S. crude futures gained 0.42% to $49.80 by 6:29AM ET (10:29GMT), while Brent oil rose 0.46% to $52.60.

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