US pre-open: Futures head higher on Greece's momentum
US stock futures turned north on Thursday, feeding off the momentum generated by European equities after Greece's parliament approved austerity measures in return for financial aid.
ALPHABET-A
$172.21
07:30 26/04/24
Citigroup Inc.
$62.56
07:29 26/04/24
Dow Jones I.A.
38,261.56
04:30 15/10/20
eBay Inc.
$51.92
07:30 26/04/24
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
$427.15
07:30 26/04/24
Mattel Inc.
$18.44
07:30 26/04/24
Nasdaq 100
17,719.16
07:30 26/04/24
Netflix Inc.
$557.52
07:30 26/04/24
Philip Morris International Inc.
$95.72
07:30 26/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately up 60 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session eight and 19 points higher respectively.
European shares pushed higher on Thursday as investors welcomed news that Greek lawmakers have approved the austerity measures needed for Athens to enter formal negotiations over its third bailout.
The plan will now need to be approved by the Eurozone members, with Germany's Bundestag set to vote on Friday, while the French national assembly has already voted in favour.
“With the debate about debt restructuring well and truly opened, with the Greek government in chaos and with implementation of the terms of the bailout far harder than agreeing to them in Parliament, the uncertainty which can weaken the euro won’t go away any time soon," analysts at Societe Generale said in a note.
"Secondly, all of this uncertainty will require the ECB to maintain super-easy policies for even longer than was the case already.”
Despite the rally among European equities, the euro lost 0.47% against the dollar, which gained 0.1% against the pound. The greenback was flat against the yen, while gold futures dropped 0.38% to $1,143.00 an ounce.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks closed mostly up, while oil prices staged a solid rebound, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 0.87% to $51.86 a barrel and Brent rising 1.26% to $57.78 a barrel.
Earnings in focus
In company news, tobacco giant Philip Morris climbed 1.72% in pre-market trading after posting better-than-expected second quarter profit and sales early on Thursday.
Netflix surged 10.7% ahead of the bell, after analysts at JP Morgan, Cantor Fitzgerald and Pacific Crest raised their target price on the stock.
The internet TV network said late Wednesday it added a better-than-expected 3.28m streaming subscribers in the June quarter.
Tech giant Intel climbed 2.32% ahead of the bell despite announcing late Wednesday that its second-quarter profit fell 3.2% to amid an ongoing slump in the personal-computer market.
The earnings season continues with Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and eBay publishing results ahead of the bell, while Google, Mattel, Schlumberger and Advanced Micro Devices set to report after the close.
Thursday data
In terms of economic data, weekly jobless claims are due at 13:30 and are forecast to have dropped to 287,000 from 297,000, while the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index is released at 1500 BST and is expected to fall to 12.5 in July from 15.2 in June.
At the same time, the NAHB housing market index for July is published.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen will speak to the Senate Banking Committee on economy and monetary policy at 1930 BST, but analysts do not expect any surprises after her testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
"On Wednesday, Yellen yet again reiterated that we will see a hike this year, but also emphasised the importance of the size and speed of a hike rather than its timing," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.
"Ultimately, monetary tightening will always seem like walking on eggshells, and I expect it to be slow-paced and moderate in size regardless of whether it starts in September or later this year."