U.S. stocks set to open mixed

U.S. stocks pointed to a mixed open on Thursday, as investors prepare to sort through a fresh batch of corporate earnings reports.

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) will report before the bell.

E-commerce giant Amazon.com, (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) are all scheduled to publish their reports after the close.

At 5:39 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip Dow rose 37.5 points, or 0.14% to 27,274.5 while Nasdaq 100 futures were down 16 points, or 0.20% to 8,022.

ECB leaves interest rates on hold

European Central Bank (ECB) left benchmark interest rates unchanged at 0% during its monetary policy meeting held today, but hinted at a future stimulus.

“At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively,” the ECB said in a statement.

“The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels at least through the first half of 2020, and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure the continued sustained convergence of inflation to its aim over the medium term.”

The bank was widely expected to provide an earlier-than-expected rate cut in the wake of weak economic data from the region.

Tesla co-founder and CTO is stepping down

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) co-founder JB Straubel is stepping down from his role as chief technology officer at the company and will stay on in a senior advisor role. The announcement was made CEO Elon Musk during a conference call with analysts late Wednesday.

Drew Baglino, vice president of technology, is expected to take over Straubel’s duties. Straubel, 43, helped design the automaker’s signature battery technology and oversaw other responsibilities including firmware, power electronics, software, and motors.

Tesla shares lost $31.88, or 12.04% to $233 in premarket trade following disappointing Q2 results.

Nissan plans to cut over 12,500 jobs globally as profits in Q1

Nissan Motor Co Ltd has said it will as many as 12,500 jobs worldwide after its first-quarter operating profit plunged 99%.

The Japanese car giant made the announcement on Thursday, saying the cuts will happen across 14 locations globally, including in North America where the company recorded a 7.7% year-over-year decline in sales during the first five months of this year.

Nissan also said it would slash global production by 10% by the end of calendar 2022 in order to revitalize stagnant product lines and address overcapacity.