US pre-open: (Back to the) Futures edge higher ahead of more corporate earnings

US stock futures edged higher on Wednesday, ahead of yet another raft of corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately up 71 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set to begin the session 10 and 20 points higher respectively.

Earnings in focus

The earnings season continues with Boeing, Coca-Cola and General Motors all set to report quarterly earnings ahead of the bell, while eBay and American Express are among the companies that will report after the close.

“So far earnings at America’s top 500 companies have mostly exceeded estimates but revenues are falling short because of weak growth and a strong dollar,” said CMC Markets’ analyst Jasper Lawler.

In other company news, Yahoo! declined 1.40% ahead of the bell after revealing late on Tuesday that its third quarter sales fell 8% and adding its revenue could suffer from a weak holiday period.

Chipotle Mexican Grill tumbled 8% in pre-market trading after reporting weaker-than-expected profit late on Tuesday, as sales growth continued to slow in the third quarter.

The economic calendar is extremely quiet on Wednesday, with not top-tier US economic reports scheduled for release.

Investors will, however, analyse a report on US mortgage applications for the week to 16 October, out at 1200 BST, while Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell will speak at 1830 BST.

Elsewhere, Asian stocks closed on a mixed note after data showed Japanese exports grew at their slowest pace in over a year in September, rekindling talk of the need for further monetary stimulus out of the Bank of Japan.

“Japan is at risk of falling back into recession in the third quarter and today’s trade data did nothing to suggest that this would be avoided,” said Oanda’s senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

“If the country does fall back into recession in the third quarter it will make the job of returning inflation to 2% even more difficult and could pursued the Bank of Japan to consider further stimulus.”

European stocks edged slightly higher, while oil prices slid, with West Texas Intermediate falling 1.33% to $45.68 a barrel, while Brent crude lost 0.49% to $48.47 a barrel.

The dollar was broadly flat against the euro and the pound and climbed 0.17% against the yen, while gold futures declined 0.09% to $1,175.01.