US pre-open: Stocks seen muted but Morgan Stanley set to gain on Q2 numbers
US stocks looked set for a fairly muted open on Wednesday as earnings rolled in from banking behemoth Morgan Stanley and as investors eyed Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's second day of testimony.
At 1215 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were flat, while Nasdaq futures were down 0.1%.
Powell was due to deliver his semi-annual testimony to the House Financial Services Committee at 1500 BST.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The Fed Chair is once again expected to deliver a very upbeat assessment of the economy and stick to previous views on rate hikes. The Fed has become one of the less interesting central banks due to its reliability and transparency - something that is very much a goal of all central banks - which is likely to make today’s appearance less of a market moving event.
"That’s not to say that it doesn’t have the potential to cause market swings, rather that what Powell will say will likely already be priced in and so any movements are less likely to be significant. He may surprise us, should he get into a deeper discussion on trade wars for example and the implications for monetary policy, but as yet this is not something that has had an impact on the outlook."
On the corporate front, Morgan Stanley was set for strong gains at the open after its second-quarter results surpassed analysts' expectations. Profit rose 39% from the same period a year ago to $2.44bn, beating forecasts of $2bn, while earnings per share came in at $1.30 versus expectations of $1.11 and revenue increased 12% to $10.6bn, which was about $500m above what was pencilled in.
Elsewhere, Google owner Alphabet was weaker in pre-market trade as the EU hit Google with a €4.3bn fine over how its Android operating system works.
Elsewhere, United Continental Holdings was set to tick higher after its second-quarter earnings late on Tuesday beat estimates.
American Express, eBay and IBM were slated to report earnings after the close of markets, while on the data front, housing starts and building permits for June are due at 1330 BST and the Fed's Beige Book is at 1900 BST.