US pre-open: Futures mixed as earnings season continues

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were pointing to a mixed open ahead of the bell on Wednesday following major indices' first losing session in five days.
As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones and Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.05% and 0.12%, respectively, while S&P 500 futures had the index opening 0.07% lower.

The Dow Jones closed 157.71 points lower on Tuesday as market participants digested some key corporate earnings and news of a pause in Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine study.

Quarterly earnings will remain firmly in focus again on Wednesday, with Bank of America being the first cab off the rank and posting an earnings beat despite lagging on revenues.

The likes of United Airlines, Wells Fargo, UnitedHealth and Goldman Sachs will all reporting throughout the course of the day.

Also in focus, news that Eli Lilly had paused a trial of its Covid-19 antibody weighted on sentiment and came just after Johnson & Johnson opted to halt its own vaccine trial following an "adverse event".

Stimulus talks were still drawing attention on Thursday, as was election polling, which currently has Joe Biden ahead by 17 points on a national basis.

IG's Joshua Mahony said: "Stimulus hopes remain key as a backbone to the recent stock market gains, with Trump calling for the country to 'go big or go home' on any such deal.

"There is a feeling that such a deal may not be forthcoming until after the election, with smaller industry-specific packages more likely than another multi-trillion dollar deal. Nevertheless, with Biden leading the polls, the feeling is that short-term solutions could carry us through to eventual post-election boost that markets are hopeful of."

On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 0.7% in the week ended 9 October, after increasing 4.6% in the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Applications to refinance a home loan dropped 0.3% and homebuyer mortgage applications declined 1.6% despite the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate falling one basis point to a fresh record low of 3.00%.

Still to come, PPI figures for September will be published at 1330 BST, while Federal Reserve presidents Richard Clarida, Randal Quarles and Robert Kaplan will all make comments on Wednesday.