Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, October 16:
1. Netflix Reports Earnings
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) results due out after the closing bell will be today's main event, as a busy week for earnings rolls along.
The streaming giant is forecast to report adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.68 on revenue of $4.0 billion for the third quarter, according to estimates.
Perhaps of greater interest, Wall Street will be closely watching subscriber growth numbers. Netflix said in its second quarter letter to shareholders that it expects to add 5 million subscribers in the third quarter, down from 5.3 million adds in the same quarter last year.
It was up around 0.8% in Tuesday's pre-market.
Shares have gotten pounded over the last three months, plunging into a bear market after the company posted a huge miss in subscriber growth for the second quarter back in July. Netflix is still up around 75% this year.
2. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Results Also In focus
Besides Netflix, market participants will focus on financial results from two of the U.S.' largest investment banks.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is slated release third quarter earnings at 6:55AM ET (1055GMT). Analysts are forecasting earnings per share (EPS) of $1.02 on revenue of $9.56 billion. The same period of last year had $0.88 in EPS and $10.75 billion in revenue.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is set to follow with its Q3 report at 7:30AM ET (1130GMT). Wall Street analysts expect the firm to post EPS of $5.40 and revenue of $8.37 billion.
Also on the earnings docket for today are Blackrock (NYSE:BLK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH), all set to post results in the morning, while IBM (NYSE:IBM) is due after the close along with CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) and United Continental (NASDAQ:UAL).
3. Wall Street Set for Modest Bounce
U.S. stock index futures indicated a slightly higher open, as investors looked ahead to a slew of corporate releases and economic data.
At 5:30AM ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 48 points, or about 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures gained 7 points, or around 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise of 28 points, or roughly 0.4%.
U.S. stocks finished lower on Monday, led by tech, continuing from their overall trend last week.
Elsewhere, in Europe, the region's major bourses were mixed, as investors continued to watch developments surrounding Brexit talks and Italy's budget saga.
Earlier, stocks in Asia closed mixed, with markets in China losing their earlier gains to land in negative territory. The mainland's benchmark Shanghai Composite fell by 0.8% to close at its lowest since November 2014.
4. Oil Prices Dip Ahead of API Report
In commodity markets, oil prices ticked lower ahead of the release of fresh weekly data on U.S. commercial crude inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report for the week ended October 12 at 4:30PM ET (2030GMT), amid expectations of an increase of about 1.1 million barrels.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures were down 59 cents, or 0.8% at $71.19 a barrel.
International Brent crude oil futures were at $80.20 per barrel, 58 cents, or 0.7%, lower from their last close.
Oil traders were also keeping an eye on mounting geopolitical tensions between Saudi Arabia and the West over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist.
5. Upcoming Data
On the data front, the U.S. Redbook data is due at 8:55AM ET (1255GMT), followed by industrial production numbers for September at 9:15AM ET (1315GMT).
The latest Housing Market Index is then due at 10AM ET (1400GMT), along with the August report on JOLTs job openings, which should give investors a sense of how much slack remains in the labor market.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was largely unchanged at the 94.80-level.
Meanwhile, in the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices held steady, with the benchmark 10-year yield standing at around 3.17%.