S&P 500 futures were little changed Wednesday morning as investors parsed the latest financial releases from corporate America. Futures tied to the broad index advanced 0.12%, while Nasdaq 100 futures popped 0.56%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 53 points, or 0.14%. Tesla climbed more than 12% in premarket trading after the company announced a renewed push into “more affordable” electric vehicle models. However, the megacap tech name and retail investor favorite missed expectations on both lines in the latest quarter. Visa and Texas Instruments jumped more than 2% and 6% respectively on the back of stronger-than-expected reports. Boeing ticked 3% higher after a narrower-than-expected first quarter earnings loss. Those are the latest in a solid earnings season so far, with more than one out of every five S&P 500-listed firms reporting as of Tuesday evening. Of those that have already posted results, more than three out of every four have exceeded Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet. “A strong earnings season looks likely to help restore market confidence,” UBS global wealth management chief investment officer, Americas, Solita Marcelli wrote on Wednesday. “We continue to expect earnings per share growth of 7–9% for the S&P 500 over the quarter, putting us on track for a 9% rise in profits for 2024 overall.” Tuesday marked a second straight winning session for the broad S&P 500 and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite, which continued recovering from their recent losing streaks. The blue-chip Dow closed the session more than 260 points higher, or nearly 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained more than 1%. “What normally happens is the market gets weak before earnings season because you just have economic and political news flow, which tends to be negative,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO at Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “It’s a typical earnings rally after a pullback when there was an information vacuum.” U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as investors considered the latest economic data and weighed the state of the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield was last up by 3.8 basis points to 4.636%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last more than three basis points higher to 4.939%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains in Asia as markets in the region rose across the board, following Wall Street’s continued rally for a second straight day. The Japanese benchmark jumped 2.42% to 38,460.08, while the broad based Topix was up 1.67% and ended at 2,710.73. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 2.01% and closed at 2,675.75, powered by a 4.11% gain in heavyweight Samsung Electronics, while the small cap Kosdaq was 1.99% higher at 862.23. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.08%, while the Hang Seng Tech index gained 3.5%. Shares of Sensetime soared 31.2% before trading was halted at 11:15 a.m. China’s CSI 300 was 0.44% higher to close at 3,521.62. U.S. crude oil fell back below $83 a barrel on Wednesday after rallying nearly 2% in the prior session. Traders are waiting for the latest U.S. petroleum inventory data with the market’s focus shifting back to supply and demand fundamentals as the threat of war between Israel and Iran has faded. West Texas Intermediate June contract: $82.99 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.44%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is up more than 15%. Brent June contract: $87.14 a barrel, down 28 cents, or 0.32%. Year to date, the global benchmark is up about 14%. Gold prices crept higher on Wednesday but were stuck in a narrow range as investors looked to U.S. economic data for further clarity on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,327.86 per ounce by 0429 GMT, after having hit its lowest since April 5 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures were steady at $2,340.90.
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