Dow components AXP and IBM will be in the earnings spotlight after the close
With corporate earnings set to continue rolling in today, U.S. stock futures are trading slightly below fair value. A loss would snap the Dow Jones Industrial Average's (DJI) four-session win streak, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) will need to fight to extend its run into record-high territory. Traders this morning are digesting upbeat quarterly results from names like Morgan Stanley (MS) and CSX Corporation (CSX), with blue chips American Express (AXP) and International Business Machines (IBM) set to report after the close. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will again be testifying on Capitol Hill, this time in front of the House Financial Services Committee.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White on what this strange stock market phenomenon could mean for the rest of 2018. Analyst: This healthcare stock could double. Options traders pounced onAmazon Prime Day. Plus, a rising airline stock; Google's big fine; and Buffett makes a change at Berkshire.
Most Asian benchmarks settled lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite gave back 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2%. The Wall Street Journal reported progress on lifting a current Stock Connect ban that excludes locally listed shares of Chinese companies with supervoting stock from trading on the exchange. South Korea's Kospi also closed in negative territory -- down 0.3% -- though Japan's Nikkei outperformed again, adding 0.4% on a cooling yen.
A round of positive earnings reactions is boosting European stocks at midday, with Swedish telecom concern Ericsson and U.K-based airliner easyJet two of the names surging after the companies' respective results. At last check, the German DAX is up 0.6%, the French CAC 40 is flirting with a 0.5% lead, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.6% higher as the pound weakens on a weaker-than-forecast reading on U.K. inflation data for June.