Stocks set for a mixed open
U.S. stock markets are likely to open mixed on Wednesday ahead of a deluge of big earnings today from the likes of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB).
Apple, Facebook, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) will report their quarterly results after the market close.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Boeing (NYSE: BA), AT&T (NYSE: T), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) will announce before the opening bell.
At 6:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were down 151 points, or 0.49% to 30,691. The S&P 500 futures dropped 14.88 points, or 0.39% to 3,827.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 30.62 points, or 0.23% to 13,516.12.
Fed decision eyed
Market participants are also awaiting an announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve at 2:00 p.m. ET after concluding its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The central bank is expected to maintain its benchmark interest rate of 0% to 0.25% and its massive bond-buying program to continue supporting to the coronavirus-battered economy.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET to give more insight on the central bank’s view on economic growth for 2021 and the progress of the recovery.
Microsoft posts strong Q2 earnings
Meanwhile, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) late Tuesday reported blowout results second-quarter results as home working and lockdowns drove people to online services.
The tech giant said it had revenue of $43.1 billion during the quarter, representing a 17% jump from the same period last year and well ahead of analysts’ estimate of $40.2 billion.
Net income came in $15.5 billion, or $2.03 per share, beating the $1.64 earnings per share analysts expected.
As of this writing, Microsoft stock was indicated 1.97% to $236.90 per share in the pre-market trading session Wednesday.
Elon Musk’s “Gamestonk!!” tweet sends GameStop shares flying
In other news, the “Elon Musk Effect” is sending shares of GameStop (NYSE: GME) higher after the Tesla CEO sent a tweet about the gaming retailer.
GameStop stock skyrocketed $195.12, or 136.55% to $343.10 in pre-market trading Wednesday following a simple tweet from Musk tweet that said “Gamestonk!!”.
Musk sent out the tweet late Tuesday and linked it to the Reddit forum WallStreetBets, where users have aggressively touted the stock.
