NEW YORK, July 19 — Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher today as earnings season shifts to high gear beyond big banks, with investors keeping a closing eye on the impact of stronger dollar on corporate America.
A soaring US currency led pharma major Johnson & Johnson to trim its annual adjusted profit view and IBM Corp to warn of a nearly US$3.5 billion (RM15.6 billion) hit.
IBM shares were down 5.7 per cent in premarket trading while JNJ rose 1.3 per cent as it beat quarterly earnings expectations.
“The stronger dollar becomes the issue and that is going to get a pass this earning season because we’d be more concerned if there was a degradation of demand which we’re not seeing,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley.
Apple shares attempted a comeback, gaining 0.4 per cent in premarket trading after shedding 2 per cent in the previous session.
Other high-growth stocks such as Tesla Inc, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc and Amazon.com Inc were also trading higher.
In the second-quarter earnings season, analysts expect aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 profit to grow 6 per cent, down from the 6.8 per cent estimate at the start of the quarter, according to Refinitiv data.
Boeing Co added 1.4 per cent on plans by private equity firm 777 Partners to buy up to 66 more Boeing 737 MAX jets.
Hasbro Inc beat market estimates for quarterly profit, sending shares of the toymaker up 1 per cent.
At 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 223 points, or 0.72 per cent, S&P 500 e-minis were up 35.25 points, or 0.92 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 111.75 points, or 0.94 per cent.
Netflix shares were up 1 per cent ahead of its results after market close.
Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes traded in a narrow range of 2.95 per cent and 3.01 per cent, buoying bets for riskier assets. — Reuters
