Investing.com - U.S. futures rallied on Wednesday after upbeat earnings from Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Target (NYSE:TGT) gave a fresh reminder of the current strength of the U.S. economy.
Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) reported earnings per share of $2.15 on revenue of $20.99 billion, which was higher than expected. Comparable sales rose 3.2%, despite a fall in lumber prices and difficult weather, the home-improvement retailer reported. The same factors had also weighed on Home Depot's sales and outlook on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Target’s second-quarter profit surged 17% and it raised its profit forecast for the year by some 2.5%, amid strong increases both in online traffic and store sales. The company jumped 7.8% in premarket trade, while Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) gained 8.3%.
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 65 points or 0.9% by 6:40 AM ET (10:40 GMT), while Dow futures jumped 159 points or 0.6% and S&P 500 futures inched up 20 points or 0.7%.
Technology stocks were higher, with Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) up 1%, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) rising 0.8% and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gaining 0.9%. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) declined 0.7% after reports that Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is suing the company over fires allegedly caused by its solar panels.
On the data front, the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting are released at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT), while existing home sales are out at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In commodities, crude oil gained 1.3% to $56.84 a barrel. Gold futures lost 0.3% to $1,510.55 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was flat at 98.088.