US pre-open: Futures mixed amid earnings onslaught

Wall Street futures were pointing to a broadly flat open ahead of the bell on Wednesday as investors prepped for a veritable array of quarterly earnings reports.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Junes futures were up 0.08%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.03% and 0.09% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 15.73 points higher on Tuesday, another new record close for the blue-chip index.

Wednesday's primary focus will be corporate earnings, with a number of big-name US firms reporting throughout the course of the day.

First off, Bristol-Myers Squibb posted a 10% increase in quarterly revenues as sales grew amid increased research and development spending and Kraft Heinz beat on both earnings and sales expectations.

Coca-Cola earnings topped estimates as consumers moved to drink more beverages outside of the home amid a reopening US economy, while Harley-Davidson third-quarter earnings blew past estimates after shipments topped expectations.

Boston Scientific traded higher despite narrowing its full-year guidance as quarterly profits topped expectations, Six Flags swung to a profit of $157.0m after welcoming 12.0m guests throughout the quarter, and Spotify recorded a profit of €2.0m during the quarter, up from a loss of €101.0m a year earlier, as average revenues per user increased from €4.29 to €4.34.

Still to come, Harley-Davidson and Boeing were still scheduled to report before the open, while Ford, Spirit Airlines, eBay and Netgear will all report after the close.

On the macro front, mortgage applications rose 0.3% in the week ended 22 October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, a marked improvement when compared to the 6.3% decline seen a week earlier.

Still to come, September's durable goods orders report will be published at 1330 BST.