(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)
*
Apple ( AAPL ) slips as Berkshire Hathaway cuts stake
*
Paramount Global ( PARAA ) up as bidders await word from special
committee
*
Tyson Foods ( TSN ) climbs after Q2 profit beats estimates
*
Futures up: Dow 0.38%, S&P 0.42%, Nasdaq 0.36%
(Updated at 8:26 am ET/1226 GMT)
By Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A
May 6 (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised for a higher
open on Monday as traders priced in a greater chance of the
Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year following a
soft payrolls data last week.
The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow
closed at three-week highs on Friday after data showed U.S. job
growth slowed more than expected in April, taking pressure off
the U.S. central bank to keep rates higher for longer.
Traders are currently pricing in rate cuts worth 48 basis
points from the Fed by the end of 2024, with the first cut
expected in September or November, according to LSEG's rate
probability app. In recent weeks, traders had priced in just one
cut due to signs of sticky inflation.
"It's been this tug of war between what you're seeing play
out in the rates market and the repricing of inflation and Fed
policy versus what you're seeing on the earnings front," said
Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment
Managers Solutions.
"In our opinion, it's been a pretty even battle so far."
U.S. stock indexes appear to have stabilized after a rocky
April, as a much better-than-expected first-quarter earnings
season and hopes of U.S. monetary policy easing draw buyers back
into the market.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged last week and signaled
it was leaning toward eventual reductions in borrowing costs,
but repeated that it wants to gain "greater confidence" that
inflation will continue to fall before cutting rates.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin and his New York
counterpart John Williams are scheduled to speak later in the
day, kicking off speeches from a host of U.S. central bank
policymakers this week.
Key data releases this week include weekly jobless claims
and U.S. consumer sentiment data for May.
With the earnings season in full swing, investors will also
keep an eye on quarterly numbers from major firms including Walt
Disney ( DIS ), Uber ( UBER ) and Arm Holdings this
week.
Of the 397 firms in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings
through Friday, 76.8% beat analysts' profit estimates, compared
with the long-term average of 66.7%, as per LSEG data.
At 08:26 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 21.5
points, or 0.42%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis climbed 64.25
points, or 0.36% while Dow e-minis rose 148 points, or
0.38%.
Apple ( AAPL ) dipped 0.3% premarket after the value of
Berkshire's stake in the iPhone maker fell 22% to $135.4 billion
as of March 31, from $174.3 billion at the end of 2023.
Paramount Global ( PARAA ) added 3.6% after the media company
ended its exclusive negotiations with Skydance Media without a
deal, allowing the special committee to entertain other offers
from rival bidders.
Perficient jumped 53.2% after Swedish private
equity firm EQT AB said it would take the U.S.-based
digital consultancy firm private in an all-cash deal valued at
about $3 billion.
Tyson Foods ( TSN ) rose 2.4% after the meatpacker surpassed
Wall Street expectations for second-quarter profit as it begins
to reap the benefits of shutting some chicken processing plants
to reduce costs.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli)