Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, July 17:
1. Netflix Slammed After Missing Big On Subscriber Growth
Netflix missed its subscriber growth projections for the first time in five quarters, raising fears that the streaming giant's rapid expansion is slowing.
The company, one of the momentum leaders of this bull market, reported second-quarter earnings after the market closed on Monday.
In addition to a slight miss on revenue compared to estimates, Netflix posted a huge miss on subscriber additions. The company added 5.2 million customers from April through June, about one million less than forecast.
Netflix added just 670,000 subscribers in the U.S., well below analysts' estimates of 1.19 million. It signed up 4.47 million subscribers internationally, while analysts were expecting 4.97 million.
In pre-market trading, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares plunged 14% to $343.89, eroding $24.2 billion in market capitalization and down from Monday's close of $400.48.
Along with Netflix’s earnings stumble, fellow FANG members Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) all dropped at least 1%.
2. Goldman Sachs Continues Busy Week Of Earnings
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) results due out before the opening bell will be today's main event, as a busy week for earnings rolls along.
Goldman’s results will be of particular interest to investors amid reports that David Solomon, currently the firm’s president, would be named CEO, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein who has held the top role at Goldman since 2006.
In addition to Goldman, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), and Progressive (NYSE:PGR) are also scheduled to report on Tuesday morning.
After the closing bell, United Continental (NYSE:UAL), CSX (NASDAQ:CSX), Mellanox (NASDAQ:MLNX), Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ:IBKR) and Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ:PNFP) are set to post results.
3. Fed's Powell To Address Congress
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to deliver his semi-annual monetary policy testimony on the economy before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00AM ET.
Text of the testimony will be released 90 minutes before he starts speaking.
Investors are hoping to get a better idea of what the Fed’s thoughts are on current disputes over trade, including whether any alarm on their part could put rate increases on hold until the trade situation calms down.
The Fed, in its accompanying semi-annual Monetary Policy Report sent to Congress late last week, reiterated that it expected "further gradual increases" in interest rates due to "solid" economic growth.
The U.S. central bank raised interest rates last month for the second time this year and has projected two more rate hikes by year end.
Besides the Fed, the notable data set for release Tuesday includes the June reading on industrial production and the National Association of Homebuilders’ July reading on homebuilder sentiment.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was a shade lower at 94.10.
Meanwhile, in the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices were little changed, with the benchmark 10-year yield holding steady at 2.96%.
Powell's view on the continued flattening of the Treasury yield curve, which usually signals a recession is near, will also be on investors' minds.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said Monday that the U.S. central bank should take a break from hiking rates, because of how the yield curve is moving.
4. Wall Street Points To Subdued Open
U.S. stock futures pointed to a subdued open, as investors await further corporate results and remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
At 5:40AM ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 15 points, or less than 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures dipped 2 points, or roughly 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a loss of 9 points, or about 0.1%.
Elsewhere, in Europe, most of the region's major bourses hovered around the flatline in quiet mid-morning trade, with the different sectors moving in opposite directions.
Earlier, stocks in Asia closed mostly lower, with Japan the only major market finishing in positive territory, as energy stocks declined.
5. Oil Prices Stabilize After Sharp Falls
Oil prices were relatively flat, pausing for breath after tumbling to a three-month low, as supply disruptions in Libya began to ease and reports of potential exemptions from U.S. sanctions for buyers of Iranian crude began to emerge.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude was down 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $67.00 a barrel. It fell 4.2% on Monday.
Brent crude futures were down 22 cents, or 0.3%, at $71.62 a barrel. They sank 4.6% in the prior session.
The American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report for the week ended July 13 at 4:30PM ET, amid forecasts for an oil-stock drop of around 3.4 million barrels.