Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, April 18:
1. Morgan Stanley , American Express Highlight Busy Day Of Earnings
The first-quarter earnings season continues to gather pace with Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) set to be the last major U.S. financial firm to report when it releases results ahead of today's opening bell.
Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Textron (NYSE:TXT) and Fred's (NASDAQ:FRED) are also scheduled to report on Wednesday morning.
After the closing bell, American Express (NYSE:AXP), Alcoa (NYSE:AA), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) and United Rentals (NYSE:URI) are set to post results.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) earnings will also be in focus, after its stock sank around 5% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the information technology company posted profit margins that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
2. U.S. Stock Futures Point To Higher Open
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open, as investors looked ahead to a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 48 points, or about 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 5 points, or nearly 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 19 points, or roughly 0.3%.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, as strong earnings from Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) boosted optimism over what is expected to be the strongest earnings season in seven years.
In Europe, the continent's major bourses edged higher, supported by a slew of well received company results as the focus turned from geopolitics to the first-quarter earnings season.
Earlier, in Asia, most markets in the region crept higher, but Chinese stocks continued to lag behind on concerns about trade and the country’s economy.
3. Fed Releases Beige Book, More Speakers On The Docket
The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book will be the highlight of today's economic calendar. Due out at 2:00PM ET (1800GMT), this report is a summary of economic anecdotes from each of the Fed’s 12 districts.
It will be closely watched for any subtle change in commentary on inflation following hawkish language seen in the Fed’s March meeting minutes.
Market players will also pay close attention to comments from a pair of Fed speakers for insights into the outlook for monetary policy.
Outgoing New York Fed President William Dudley is due to speak about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the City University of New York's Lehman College at 3:15PM ET (1915GMT).
Fed Governor Randal Quarles is slated to speak at the Bretton Woods Committee Annual Meeting, in Washington DC, at 4:15PM ET (2015GMT).
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.2% higher at 89.43.
In the bond market, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 2.83%. The yield on the Fed-sensitive 2-year note stood at 2.40%, its highest level since 2008.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at its May meeting but increase rates at its subsequent meeting in June.
4. EIA Weekly Supply Report In Focus
Oil traders looked ahead to fresh weekly data on U.S. commercial crude inventories to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer and how fast output levels will continue to rise.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report at 10:30AM ET (1430GMT), amid expectations for a decline of around 0.5 million barrels.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that U.S. oil inventories fell by roughly 1.0 million barrels last week.
There are often sharp divergences between the API estimates and the official figures from EIA.
Oil prices inched higher ahead of the data, with New York-traded WTI crude futures rising 59 cents, or 0.9%, to $67.11 per barrel, while Brent futures tacked on 53 cents, or 0.8%, to $72.12.
5. UK Inflation Drops To Lowest In A Year
British inflation unexpectedly cooled to a one-year low in March, according to figures that may raise doubt over bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates in May.
The decline took the rate from 2.7% to 2.5%, the weakest increase since March of last year. The figure was slightly below the median forecast of 2.7%.
Core inflation cooled to 2.3%, also the lowest rate in a year.
Most economists think the BoE will raise interest rates at its May policy meeting. However, there are signs that Britain's inflation surge has peaked since CPI hit 3.1% in November, the highest in more than five years.
The pound took a nosedive following the data release, with GBP/USD sliding 0.7% to 1.4189, well off its post-Brexit high of 1.4376 reached a day earlier.