U.S. stock index futures advanced Wednesday morning after Microsoft earnings came in better than Wall Street expected. Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 gained 1%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 52 points, or 0.2%. Microsoft added more than 7% after beating Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines in its latest quarter. The company also posted a big jump in revenue from its Intelligent Cloud business segment. Google-parent Alphabet also posted better-than-anticipated earnings, however the stock dipped 1% as revenue grew by just 3% year over year. “We’re still early in this season, but it seems like Wall Street generally underestimated corporate America once again,” said Callie Cox, an analyst at investment company eToro. “Company-level information could be easing investors’ fears on how corporate America is handling slowing growth and rising costs, especially given the focus on the job market.” “There are a lot of eyes on how well tech holds up given it’s powered the market recently,” she added. “Big Tech has been through a lot of scrutiny, and expectations are already quite low for the sector. We expect Big Tech companies to focus on profitability and cost-cutting measures in their earnings commentary.” First Republic Bank said late Monday that its deposits dropped 40% to $104.5 billion in the first quarter. This reignited concerns about the broader banking sector and pressured the major averages Tuesday. The stock was down 8% in premarket trading Wednesday, with the potential to once again weigh on other financial names during the session. Elsewhere, Boeing and Chipotle shares rose about 4% and 7%, respectively, on the back of their earnings reports. Investors will keep focus on tech with Meta Platforms slated to report after the market closes Wednesday. Mattel and eBay are also expected to report after the bell. Demand for long-lasting goods like appliances and computers was higher than economists expected in March, according to to data released Wednesday morning, in a sign that the economy is showing resilience. This data point comes ahead of the latest GDP update slated for Thursday and the big Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index — the Fed’s favored inflation gauge — on Friday. Asia-Pacific markets were trading mixed on Wednesday after banking fears were reignited on Wall Street. Investors were also watching Australia’s inflation numbers for the first quarter of 2023, which slowed to 7% year-on-year, down from a 23-year high of 7.8% the previous quarter. The S&P/ASX 200 was down marginally to close at 7,316.3. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.71% to end the day at 28,416.47 , and the Topix dropped 0.89% to finish at 2,023.9. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.17% to close at 2,484.83, while the Kosdaq closed 0.99% down at 830.44, after the country’s consumer sentiment index for April rose to 95.1, compared to 92 in March. Mainland Chinese markets ended mixed, with the Shenzhen Component up 0.33% to finish at 11,185.68 and the Shanghai Composite closing 0.02% lower at 3,264.1. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.7% up, while the Hang Seng Tech index rose 1.32%. Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday as falling U.S. inventories lifted the U.S. WTI price while the Brent benchmark steadied as the market took stock of weak U.S. data that raised fears of recession in the world’s biggest economy. Brent crude last eased by 67 cents, or 0.83%, to $80.10 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slid 35 cents, or 0.45%, to $76.72. U.S. crude oil stocks fell by about 6.1 million barrels in the week ended April 21, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday. Analysts had expected crude inventories to fall by about 1.5 million barrels. Gold prices stuck within a narrow range on Wednesday as traders strapped in for U.S. economic data for further guidance on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance. Spot gold was last down 0.11% at $1,995.64 an ounce while U.S. gold futures rose 0.7% to $2,005.90.
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