Stock futures point to a positive open
U.S. stocks look set to bounce back on Wednesday, despite concerns that oil producers are fast running out of storage space for excess barrels as the COVID-19 crisis continues to cripple demand.
By 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow indicated a gain of 280 points, or 1.22% to 23,209. S&P 500 futures rose 35.38 points, or 1.3% to 2,767.38 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 111.37 points, or 1.32% to 8,543.12.
However, crude futures were still in negative territory, with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contract for June delivery down 15 cents a barrel, or 1.3% to $11.42. Global Brent crude futures for June were at $18.94 a barrel, down 39 cents, or 2.02%.
Senate passes new $484 billion COVID-19 aid package
Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday afternoon passed a $484 billion coronavirus relief package for hospitals and small businesses, setting the stage for a House vote later this week.
The legislation seeks to provide more than $300 billion to small businesses to help them keep workers on payroll. Hospitals are expected to receive $75 billion, while a further $25 billion has been set aside for coronavirus testing.
President Donald Trump threw his support behind the bill, tweeting: “I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, Hospitals, and Testing. After I sign this Bill, we will begin discussions on the next Legislative Initiative with fiscal relief to State/Local Governments.”
Netflix posts mixed first-quarter results
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) revealed late Tuesday that it added more than 15.7 million new subscribers in the first three months of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people across the globe to stay at home.
The streaming giant ended the quarter with a total of $182.8 million subscribers. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.77 billion roughly in line with Refinitiv estimates. Netflix had earnings of $1.57 per share, slightly below Refinitiv forecast of $1.65.
The Silicon Valley company expects the current quarter to slow down a bit, as countries begin to ease lockdowns.
As of writing, Netflix stock was down $5.32, or 1.23% to $428.51 in Wednesday’s premarket session.
More quarterly earnings eyed
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and AT&T (NYSE: T) are among heavyweights reporting earnings before the opening bell today.
Analysts expect Delta to post a loss of $2.79 a share on revenue of $5.6 billion. AT&T is projected to announce earnings of $0.85 a share, with revenue coming in at $44.3 billion.
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) are also scheduled to publish their results ahead of the bell.
Key earnings to watch after the close include Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) and Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX).
