Stocks advance with US futures as earnings in focus

Bloomberg

Stocks advanced with US futures as investors digested a slew of earnings reports and awaited data on US jobless claims.
Contracts on US gauges signalled a rebound from Wednesday’s equity losses. Walt Disney Co. surged in premarket trading following better-than-expected results and a restructuring plan that includes job cuts and cost savings. Robinhood Markets Inc. rose on an earnings beat, while toymaker Mattel Inc. fell after its outlook disappointed.
European equities gained a third day as heavyweights Siemens AG and AstraZeneca Plc posted results that beat estimates. Credit Suisse Group AG slid after warning it expects a substantial loss this year. A gauge of Asian shares rose, buoyed by gains in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries ticked lower and an index of the dollar weakened.
Investors will closely watch US data, including the report on initial jobless claims, for clues on policy after a string of Federal Reserve officials reiterated that interest rates will need to keep rising to curb inflation, taking the edge off market optimism. Meanwhile, earnings are also in focus, with bumper share buybacks a highlight of the season.
“Investors are shaking off another case of the jitters over how far interest rates will go in the United States, as a raft of better than expected corporate results came in after the bell,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
After this week’s hawkish chorus, Fed-funds futures markets are pricing in higher rates, with some options traders betting the US policy benchmark will reach 6%.
“I don’t think the Fed will cut within this year,” Jun Bei Liu, portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners, said on Bloomberg Television. “The Fed was behind the curve in terms of putting up their interest rate and they certainly are going to be very slow in cutting the
interest rate.”
Oil steadied after rallying about 7% over the previous three sessions and the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.1% as of 10:23 am London time.
and S&P 500 futures rose 0.8%.
While Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.2%, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.5%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4% and the euro rose 0.5% to $1.0764.
While the Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 130.85 per dollar, the offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.7826 per dollar and the British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2143.