Stocks set to rise at opening bell
The futures market suggested U.S. stock markets will open higher on Wednesday, ahead of ADP National Employment Report for July at 8:15 a.m. ET, and earnings from CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST).
Private payrolls from ADP are projected to have added 1.5 million workers last month, compared to 2.369 million gain in June and 3.065 million in May.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) is also scheduled to release a measure of activity in the U.S. non-manufacturing sector for July at 10:00 a.m. ET, while data company IHS Markit will publish figures showing activity in the services sector at 9:45 a.m. ET.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were trading 194 points, or 0.73% higher to 26,911. The S&P 500 futures added 18.88 points, or 0.57% to 3,318.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 52.38 points, or 0.47% to 11,138.38.
U.S., China to hold high-level talks on Aug. 15
Meanwhile, top U.S. and Chinese officials have agreed to meet (probably virtually) on August 15 for high-level discussions according to a report on The Wall Street Journal.
People briefed on the matter told the Journal that the talks will assess China’s compliance with the bilateral trade pact signed at the beginning of year. The deal calls for China to buy around $27 billion worth of U.S. energy products this year and an additional $42 billion in 2021.
The discussions, led by China’s Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, will happen against the backdrop of a wide-ranging points of tension in the relationship between the two economic giants, including coronavirus, TikTok, Hong Kong, Huawei, spying, and more.
Disney stock rises despite mixed earnings report
In other news, Disney (NYSE: DIS) saw its shares pop in the pre-market trading session on Wednesday despite posting mixed third-quarter financial results.
The media conglomerate late Tuesday reported adjusted earnings of 8 cents per share and revenue of $11.78 billion. Analysts expected the company to post a loss of 61 cents per share on revenue of $12.4 billion, according to FactSet.
Revenues from its theme parks segment slumped 85% to below $1 billion during the quarter because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the company said that its Disney+ streaming service added millions more subscribers last quarter to end the period at 60.5 million subscribers worldwide.
CEO Bob Chapek announced that Disney+ subscribers will get exclusive access to the release of “Mulan,” starting Sept. 4. However, subscribers will have to pay an additional $29.99 on top of the cost of the monthly subscription to rent the live-action blockbuster. Disney has repeatedly delayed it due to theater closures.
As of this writing, Disney stock was up 6.36% to $124.75 a share in pre-market trade.
