On Wednesday, U.S. stock futures directed towards higher open for Wall Street as investors weighed the earnings of Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp.
Shares of the second-largest U.S. bank increased 0.6 percent following the lender’s report of better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, pushed by higher interest rates. U.S. Bancorp also benefited from higher rates, which helped the regional lender’s profit surpass analysts’ estimates.
Goldman Sachs, which identified a $5 billion charge for the fourth quarter due to the new tax law, increased 0.8 percent prior to results.
At 6:54 a.m. ET: Dow e-minis were up 141 points, or 0.55 percent, with 34,268 contracts traded. S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.34 percent, with 158,007 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24.25 points, or 0.36 percent, with 38,655 contracts traded.
After a strong start on Tuesday, Wall Street dropped as weakness in GE as well as lower oil and commodity prices pulled it back. Although the Dow reached the 26,000 mark for the first time, it closed over 200 points below its new high. The CBOE Volatility index also rose Tuesday, climbing to a more than one-month high of 12.41.
Apple shares declined 0.33 percent following the downgrade of the company’s stock from Longbow Research to “neutral”, saying it predicts only a “good, not great iPhone cycle”.
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Ford dropped 3.2 percent after the automaker reported its full-year 2017 profit was below estimates as well as a muted forecast.
IBM shares gained 1.8 percent after Barclays analysts upgraded its stock to “overweight” and increased the price target.
Data on industrial production, due at 9:15 a.m. ET, is anticipated to reveal an increase of 0.4 percent in December following the previous month’s 0.2 percent increase.
Investors will also analyze the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes regarding the health of the economy explained from sources of central bank, due at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Later in the afternoon, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, Chicago Fed Chief Charles Evans and Dallas counterpart Robert Kaplan are scheduled to speak.