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U.S. stock futures muted with deluge of earnings and data on tap

Published 2017-04-27, 07:03 a/m
Updated 2017-04-27, 07:09 a/m
© Reuters.  Wall Street futures pointed to flat open with focus on earnings and data

© Reuters. Wall Street futures pointed to flat open with focus on earnings and data

Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat to higher open on Thursday as investors shrugged off the lack of details in U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax plan and turned their attention to a deluge of earnings and data.

The blue-chip Dow futures inched up 19 points, or 0.09%, at 7:01AM ET (12:01GMT), the S&P 500 futures edged forward 1 point, or 0.04%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 6 points, or 0.10%.

As of late Wednesday, 204 S&P 500 companies had reported earnings with 75% beating profit estimates and 67% topping consensus on revenue, according to The Earnings Scout.

The downpour will continue Thursday with high-profile earnings, including big tech bellwethers.

Companies slated to report ahead of the opening bell include Ford (NYSE:F), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), UPS (NYSE:UPS), Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW), Under Armour (NYSE:UAA), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) to name a few.

But some of the tech names that have led the market's gains in recent months report after the closing bell and could offer further impetus to markets. That includes Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), up 21% year to date, and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which has risen 12%.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) also report after the close.

Market participants also looked ahead to tier one data including durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and advanced trade figures at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) which will set the stage for the publication of first-quarter GDP on Friday.

Additionally, pending home sales for March will be released at 10:00AM ET (14:00GMT).

Meanwhile, oil prices slumped on Thursday, falling back toward the lowest level in more than a month amid fears that an ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand.

U.S. crude futures fell 1.07% to $49.09 by 7:02AM ET (12:02GMT), while Brent oil lost 1.16% to $51.80.

Elsewhere, the European Central Bank's (ECB) latest interest rate decision is due at 7:45AM ET (11:45GMT) on Thursday. Most of the focus will likely be on ECB president Mario Draghi's press conference 45 minutes after the announcement.

Market participants will pay close attention to any hints Draghi may give on future path of monetary policy with particular regard to the removal of accommodation, although most analysts believe that he will only note slight improvements to the economy and leave major changes until the June meeting that will be accompanied by updated economic forecasts.

EUR/USD was little changed, hovering at 1.0900.

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