Dow Futures Gain on Warm GDP Reception

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are pointed cautiously higher this morning, on pace to recoup some of Thursday's earnings-related losses as traders weigh the latest round of corporate earnings and gross domestic product data (GDP).  FAANG stocks are in the spotlight today, as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) is set to gap higher after an earnings beat. Meanwhile, Intel (INTC) is up 3.4% in pre-market trading after earnings, and on news that fellow Dow member Apple (AAPL) will pay $1 billion to acquire its smartphone modem chip business.

On the economic front, the advance second-quarter GDP reading showed U.S. economic growth slowing to 2.1% -- the most sluggish pace since the first quarter of 2017. The figure edged just past consensus estimates, but doesn't seem to have rattled rate-cut hopes.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

• The airline stock that reversed early losses to close higher after earnings. 
• Why 2 car stocks stalled out.  
• Proceed with caution before betting on International Paper's big earnings pop. 
• Plus, Twitter and Starbucks set to soar on earnings wins, and Charles Schwab buys USAA. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.02 million call contracts traded on Thursday, compared to 689,682 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio landed at 0.68, while the 21-day moving average is 0.61.
2. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is set to gap higher at the open, after the social media stock reported second-quarter revenue of $841 million -- cruising past the consensus estimate of $829 million. Total ad revenue for the period was up 21% to $727 million, bolstered  by a stronger-than-forecast jump in monetizable daily active usage (mDAU) to 139 million. However, Twitter offered a wide range for its third-quarter revenue of $815 million to $875 million, compared to the average analyst estimate of $869.3 million. TWTR shares have gained more than 5% in pre-market action and are set to open above $40 per share.
3. Coffee concern Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is enjoying a post-earnings surge, up 6.3% at $96.70 ahead of the bell after its fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue came in above analysts' expectations. What's more, same-store sales at the coffee chain clocked its biggest increase in three years. 
4. Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) is inching higher after it announced its plans to purchase USAA's Investment Managment Co's assets in a $1.8 billion cash deal. These assets include the business' brokerage and managed portfolio accounts. SCHW is set to open up 2% at $45 in response. 
5. McDonald's (MCD), AbbVie (ABBV), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Phillips 66 (PSX), and Weyerhaeuser (WY) will also unveil earnings.

European Stocks Get Boost on Vodafone, Nestle Earnings Beats

There wasn’t a lot of buying in Asian markets today. The lone winner of the major indexes was China’s Shanghai Composite, adding 0.2%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled down 0.7% as exports fell to a more than three-year low. Also closing in negative territory was Japan’s Nikkei, down 0.5%, and South Korea’s Kospi, off 0.4%, as tensions between the countries continue to grow.

In Europe, stocks are mostly higher thanks to a solid round of corporate earnings. Mobile phone name Vodafone Group is one major winner so far, while Nestle shares are also showing strength post-earnings. As for the benchmarks, the FTSE 100 is up 0.6% in London, France’s CAC 40 is up 0.4%, and Germany’s DAX is trading 0.2% higher.