US futures up sharply, US Co. kicks high gear
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Wall Street futures rose sharply Tuesday, pointing toward another day of gains as the U.S. earnings season kicks into high gear.
Futures for the S&P 500 climbed 1.9% and the Dow Jones industrials added 1.6%.
Major indices notched significant gains to open the week on the strength of better-than-expected corporate earnings, though a strong U.S. dollar can cut into sales and profits for companies who do a lot of business overseas.
Johnson & Johnson, which brings in nearly half of its sales from outside the United States, beat third-quarter expectations but narrowed the range of its 2022 forecast due to the strengthening dollar. Shares rose 1.7% before the bell.
Goldman Sachs posted quarterly earnings of $3.07 billion, easily beating Wall Street expectations and shares are up almost 3%.
Netflix and United Airlines report earnings after the closing bell Tuesday. Tesla, American Airlines and a pair major railroads, which are in the middle of a contested union vote on a new contract, post earnings Thursday.
The dollar was trading at 149.13 Japanese yen, up from 148.98 yen. Senior Japanese officials have indicated they might intervene in the market to try to stem volatility and support the yen, which has weakened sharply against the dollar this year.
The euro fell to 98.31 cents from 98.41 cents. The soaring dollar is now worth more than the euro for the first time in 20 years.
In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX rose 1.3% while the CAC 40 in Paris and the FTSE in London each climbed 0.9%.
U.K. government bonds have rallied on news the country’s new Treasury chief was abandoning nearly all of a series of unfunded tax cuts that had upset markets.
Elsewhere, a release of China’s most recent economic growth figures due out Tuesday was postponed, removing one factor that had been expected to drive trading. No specific reason was given, but the GDP report might have conflicted with the confident tone of a Communist Party congress being held in Beijing.
There was little immediate news from the congress, where the party is expected to unveil its top leadership for the next five years a day after the gathering ends.
Economists say the world’s No. 2 economy may have grown by as little as 3% in the latest quarter, barely half the official 5.5% target.
The data weren’t likely to “paint a particularly positive picture of the Chinese economy” when they are eventually released, ING Economics said in a report, adding that “the delay suggests that the government believes that the 20th Party Congress is the most important thing happening in China right now and would like to avoid other information flows that could create mixed messages.”
In Asian trading on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 1.8% to 16,914.58. The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1% to 3,080.96.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4% to 27,156.14 and the Kospi in Seoul climbed 1.4% to 2,249.95. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.7% to 6,779.20. India’s Sensex rose 0.8%.
Wall Street indexes remain sharply lower from where they were at the beginning of this year. The S&P 500 and Russell are down more than 22%, while the Nasdaq has slumped more than 31%. The Dow is off nearly 17%.
Investors worry that i nflation is driving the risks for recession higher as the Federal Reserve and other central banks raise interest rates to cool surging prices.
The latest round of corporate financial results could help give investors a clearer picture of how companies and consumers are handling inflation.
Other big names reporting earnings this week include American Airlines, Union Pacific and American Express.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 12 cents to $85.34 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 15 cents to $85.46 per barrel on Monday.
Brent crude, the basis for pricing international oil, was essentially unchanged at $91.17 per barrel.
On Monday, the S&P 500 climbed 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.9%. The Nasdaq added 3.4%, while the Russell 2000 index rose 3.2%.
