It's one of the biggest earnings days of the year
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading comfortably above fair value ahead of one of the biggest earnings days of the year. Blue chip Microsoft (MSFT) is pointed higher after an upbeat earnings release, setting the tone ahead of quarterly results from fellow tech names Intel (INTC), Amazon.com (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOGL) later in the day. Elsewhere, shares of Twitter (TWTR) and Tesla (TSLA) are sharply higher after earnings, as well.
On the data front, weekly jobless claims rose more than expected last week, though the total of unemployed Americans fell to a 45-year low. As such, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are poised to join the Dow in positive territory following yesterday's sell-off.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.12 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 794,647 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio moved up to 0.71, and the 21-day moving average moved up to 0.66.
- Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is up 11.4% before the open, following the company's impressive quarterly results. Twitter reported stronger-than-expected ad sales for the third quarter, despite the fact that monthly usage continues to fall. Regardless, TWTR put buyers could be hurting today.
- Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) is another notable mover before the open, with the shares trading up almost 7% before the bell. The e-commerce firm posted a surprise profit for the third quarter behind a 58% increase in revenue. SHOP stock just hit a new multi-month low yesterday, but this earnings reaction looks much more promising than last quarter's sell-off.
- Finally, American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) is also trying to bounce from recent lows, up close to 5% after the company confirmed its full-year outlook despite a number of headwinds. It's been a rough run for AAL shares, which touched a two-year low of $30.24 yesterday.
- Today will be busy, with reports due out on durable goods orders, international trade data, weekly jobless claims, pending home sales, and the Fed balance sheet.
It'll be another huge day for earnings reports, with Snap (SNAP), Baidu (BIDU), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Southwest Airlines (LUV), First Solar (FSLR) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) rolling out earnings.
Earnings Provide a Lift In Europe
Asian markets finished mostly lower, tracking Wall Street's brutal Wednesday finish. Japan's Nikkei set the bearish pace with a 3.7% drubbing, while weakness in chipmakers dragged South Korea's Kospi to a 1.6% drop. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1% by the close, but China's Shanghai Composite -- already firmly in bear-market territory -- recovered from an intraday drop of 71 points to settle fractionally higher, up 0.02% for the session.
European stocks are on firmer footing at midday, with sentiment catching a boost from well-received earnings out of Swiss bank UBS and French automaker Peugeot. Meanwhile, as expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) opted to stand pat on interest rates. At last check, the French CAC 40 is up 1.1%, the German DAX is 0.3% higher, and London's FTSE 100 is off 0.1%.