Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower opening on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.
A mixed batch of earnings news may contribute to choppy trading on Wall Street as traders react to the latest quarterly results from several big-name companies.
Shares of Intel (INTC) are moving notably higher in pre-market trading after the semiconductor giant released its third quarter results.
Intel reported better than expected quarterly results, raised its full-year revenue guidance, and added $20 billion to its stock repurchase program.
Telecom giant Verizon (VZ) may also move to the upside after reporting third quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of Amazon (AMZN) are likely to come under pressure, with the online retail giant slumping by 6.3 percent in pre-market trading.
The drop by Amazon comes after the company reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings and provided a disappointing forecast for holiday sales.
Strength among tech stocks contributed to a notable advance by the Nasdaq, although the Dow and the S&P 500 spent most of Thursday’s session lingering near the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the day mixed, as the Dow closed modestly lower. While the Dow edged down 28.42 points or 0.1 percent to 26,805.51, the Nasdaq climbed 66.00 points or 0.8 percent to 8,185.80 and the S&P 500 rose 5.77 points or 0.2 percent to 3,010.29.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq benefited from a positive reaction to earnings news Microsoft (MSFT), with the software giant climbing by 2 percent.
After the close of trading on Wednesday, Microsoft reported quarterly results that exceeded analyst estimates, boosted by cloud and Office revenues.
Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) also posted a standout gain on the day after reporting an unexpected third quarter profit.
Meanwhile, shares of Twitter (TWTR) came under pressure after the social media giant reported weaker than expected third quarter results and provided disappointing guidance.
A steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM) weighed on the day after the diversified manufacturer reported third quarter earnings that beat estimates but lowered its full-year earnings outlook.
Traders were also digesting a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment contributed to a bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders in September.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1 percent in September after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in August.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to decline by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding the nosedive in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders dipped by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by 0.3 percent in August. Ex-transportation orders had expected to edge down by 0.2 percent.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed new home sales pulled back in September after a sharp increase in the previous month.
The report said new home sales slid by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 701,000 in September after spiking by 6.2 percent to a revised rate of 706,000 in August.
Economists had expected slump by 1.7 percent to a rate of 701,000 from the 713,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 19th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 212,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 218,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Gold stocks moved sharply higher over the course of trading session, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent. The spike by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.
Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, which rebounded after falling sharply in the previous session. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged up by 2.5 percent after tumbling by 1.9 percent on Wednesday.
The upbeat earnings news from Microsoft also contributed to a rally by software stocks, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index jumping by 2.2 percent.
On the other hand, oil service stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 1.6 percent. The sell-off came despite an increase by the price of crude oil.
Networking stocks also showed a notable move to the downside, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index falling by 1.5 percent.
