NEW YORK, April 29 — US stocks were on course to open lower today after hitting another closing high in the previous session, as investors awaited inflation data and a fresh batch of earnings.
In yet another busy week for earnings, about 160 S&P 500 companies, including Google-parent Alphabet Inc and Apple Inc, are due to report their quarterly reports.
Analysts now expect profits of S&P 500 companies to fall 0.3 per cent, a sharp improvement from a two per cent fall estimated at the beginning of the month, according to Refinitiv data.
An inflation report from the Commerce Department is expected to show personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for March to have risen 0.7 per cent from 0.1 per cent in February. The report is due at 8.30am ET.
The core PCE index, which excludes the volatile food and energy components and is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, is expected to remain steady at 0.1 per cent in March.
Also weighing on sentiment was data from the Euro Zone that showed economic sentiment dipped for the 10th consecutive month to its lowest level in more than two years in April.
As trade talks enter their last leg, US negotiators head to China tomorrow to try to hammer out details to end the protracted trade spat between the two countries.
At 7.13am ET, Dow e-minis were down 18 points, or 0.07 per cent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.09 per cent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 9.25 points, or 0.12 per cent.
The S&P 500 index is just 0.04 per cent shy of its all-time high of 2940.91 points hit in September, after rallying 17 per cent this year largely on the back of a more dovish Fed and hopes of a US-China trade resolution.
Among stocks, Walt Disney Co rose 1.7 per cent premarket after the debut of Avengers: Endgame over the weekend pushed total ticket sales for the superhero spectacle to US$1.2 billion (RM4.96 billion), crushing records in dozens of countries.
Boeing Co dipped 0.5 per cent. Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg will meet Boeing shareholders for the first time today since two fatal crashes that led to the 737 MAX’s grounding worldwide.
Google-parent Alphabet Inc edged up 0.2 per cent premarket ahead of its results after the bell, while Apple Inc, which is set to report tomorrow, dipped 0.1 per cent. — Reuters
