US stock futures edge higher; Alphabet surges on strong earnings

U.S. stock index futures edged higher Wednesday, underpinned by a surge in Google owner Alphabet after the technology giant reported strong earnings that set a positive tone for upcoming prints from its peers.

At 06:25 ET (10:25 GMT), Dow Jones Futures rose 50 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures climbed 15 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 43 points, or 0.2%.

Wall Street indexes marked a mixed close on Tuesday, as investors piled into technology stocks, but avoided most other sectors.

The NASDAQ Composite rose 0.8% to a record-high close, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4%.  Alphabet rises on strong earnings 

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL ) stock surged almost 6% premarket, indicated at a three-month high, after the Google parent reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the September quarter, while stating that its artificial intelligence investments were now bearing fruit. 

Its cloud business - which is closely linked to AI - grew at its fastest pace in eight quarters, while election-related spending also boosted advertisement sales, especially on YouTube. 

Strong earnings from Alphabet set a positive tone for upcoming earnings from its tech peers, which are due in the coming days. 

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT ) are set to report after the close Wednesday, followed by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN ) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL ) on Thursday.

On the flip side, chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ:AMD ) slid nearly 8% after its guidance for the current quarter underwhelmed.  Economic data deluge 

There is also a lot to digest on the economic front Wednesday.

Third-quarter gross domestic product data is due later in the session, and is expected to confirm the robust underlying strength of the largest economy in the world.

The equivalent data out of the eurozone , released earlier Wednesday, surprised to the upside, with growth coming in at 0.4% on the quarter, above the 0.2% growth forecast.

Additionally, ADP private sector employment growth is due later, in a precursor of Friday's widely-watched nonfarm payrolls data, while Thursday sees the release of the PCE price index - the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

These readings are likely to factor into the outlook for interest rates, and come before a Fed meeting next week where the central bank is widely expected to cut rates by a smaller 25 basis points. 

Volatility in stock markets is also expected to pick up in anticipation of the 2024 presidential election, with voting set for November 5. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are set for a tight race, although recent polls and prediction markets showed Trump gaining some ground. Crude aided by API inventories 

Oil prices rose Wednesday, recouping some of the recent losses as industry data showed an unexpected draw in U.S. inventories.

By 06:25 ET, the Brent contract climbed 1% to $71.45 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1% higher at $67.91 a barrel.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories fell 0.57 million barrels in the past week, compared with expectations for a build of 2.3 million barrels.

The official inventory data is due later on Wednesday, and if this data matches the API numbers then it could indicate supplies in the world’s biggest fuel consumer were somewhat tight.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

 

Source: Investing.com