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Futures: S&P 500 up 0.02%, Nasdaq 100 down 0.15%, Dow up
0.16%
May 7 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Dow
edged higher on Tuesday, ahead of quarterly results from Walt
Disney ( DIS ), while expectations of the Federal Reserve's interest
rate cuts this year helped support market sentiments.
The three main U.S. stock indexes closed at their strongest
level in more than three weeks on Monday, after a
weaker-than-expected labor market report last week fueled bets
that the U.S. central bank will ease monetary policy later this
year.
The report and better-than-expected earnings reports helped
soothe jittery investors, who sent markets lower in April, on
concerns that sticky inflation and a robust economy would prompt
the Fed to keep rates higher for longer.
Traders currently anticipate rate cuts of 45 basis points
(bps) from the Fed by the end of 2024, according to LSEG's
interest rate probabilities app, with the first pivot to a 25
bps rate cut priced in for September and another in December.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dipped on Tuesday as most
megacap and technology firms came under pressure following Apple ( AAPL )
and Tesla updates.
Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 1.6% in premarket trading after the
Wall Street Journal reported that Apple ( AAPL ) was developing its own
chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) software in data
centers.
Apple ( AAPL ) gained 0.9% ahead of an event later on Tuesday where
it is expected to unveil new iPads.
Tesla fell 2.5% after data showed the U.S.
automaker sold 62,167 China-made electric vehicles in April,
down 18% from a year earlier.
Walt Disney ( DIS ), which is set to report before the
opening bell, edged up 1%.
Of the nearly four-fifth of the S&P 500 companies that
reported first-quarter results through Friday, 76.8% topped
analysts' profit estimates, as per LSEG data. In a typical
quarter, 67% beat earnings estimates.
At 5:53 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.25
points, or 0.02%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis dipped 27.75
points, or 0.15%, while Dow e-minis added 64 points, or
0.16%.
Investors will also keep an eye on Minneapolis Fed President
Neel Kashkari's speech later in the day. Richmond Fed President
Thomas Barkin said on Monday finishing the battle against
inflation will likely require a hit to demand, while his New
York counterpart John Williams said that at some undefined point
the U.S. central bank will lower its interest rate target.
Among other stocks, Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) tumbled
10% after the data analytics firm's annual revenue forecast fell
short of analysts' estimates.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)