Stock-index futures pointed slightly higher Tuesday, with Wall Street looking to build on the previous session’s modest gains as earnings season picks up steam.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMU19, +0.32% rose 100 points, or 0.4%, to 27,276, while S&P 500 futures ESU19, +0.28% advanced 9.5 points, or 0.3%, to 2,998.50. Nasdaq-100 futures NQU19, +0.33% gained 32 points, or 0.4%, to 7,956.75.
More than 140 S&P 500 companies and a third of the Dow’s components are due to report results this week. Tuesday features results from heavyweights, including Dow members Coca-Cola Co. KO, -0.33% and United Technologies Corp. UTX, +0.42% which were already rolling in ahead of the bell.
Coca-Cola shares were up 1.7% in premarket action after reporting second-quarter results, while United Technologies added 2.4% after lifting earnings guidance.
Expectations the Federal Reserve will deliver at least a quarter-point rate cut when policy makers meet at the end of the month have underpinned stocks, analysts said. Expectations the European Central Bank will signal further easing measures are in the offing when its policy makers meet on Thursday were also seen as a factor buoying global equities.
“Stocks are rallying this morning as the feel-good factor in relation to central bank expectations continues to circulate,” said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a note.
“The European Central Bank meeting is on Thursday, and traders are at least expecting some dovish language, and there is a possibility the ECB might cut rates as the Fed are widely expected to lower rates at the end of the month,” he said. “Corporate earnings are on the rise, but they are playing second fiddle to the central bank expectations.”
Stocks edged higher on Monday. The Dow DJIA, +0.07% eked out a 17.7 point gain, a rise of less than 0.1%, to end at 27,171.90, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.28% rose 8.42 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,985.03. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.71% rallied 57.65 points, or 0.7%, to 8,204.14.
Other shares in focus include Hasbro Inc. HAS, +0.79% which jumped more than 4% in premarket action after second-quarter results, while shares of Biogen Inc. BIIB, +0.52% were also on the rise after the company topped earnings forecasts and raised its outlook.
Late Monday, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced a budget deal that would avoid the possibility of a government shutdown or federal default.
Investors were also watching the U.K., where Brexit hard-liner Boris Johnson was declared the victor in the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, allowing him to take over as prime minister from Theresa May.
Read: Brace yourselves for Britain’s new prime minister — here’s how markets may react
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