US pre-open: Stocks higher as earnings remain in focus ahead of GDP data

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the opening bell on Thursday as market participants thumbed over earnings from Meta Platforms and Caterpillar and awaited US GDP data set for publication later in the day.

As of 1250 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.43%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.56% and 0.89% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 228.96 points lower on Wednesday as investors digested a number of major corporate earnings.

Quarterly earnings will be in focus yet again on Thursday, with Facebook parent company Meta Platforms beating expectations and providing stronger-than-anticipated guidance for the current quarter, and trade bellwether Caterpillar also posting better-than-expected numbers.

Eli Lilly, Merck, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines will report earnings prior to the start of trading, while Amazon and Intel will publish after the close of trading.

Zaye Capital's Naeem Aslam said: "We had strong numbers from Meta, which has boosted the risk appetite further among traders. Today, it will be more about Amazon’s earnings. There is no doubt that Amazon’s business is very sensitive to consumer spending, and we know that consumers have tightened their belts due to the cost of living crisis. A better-than-expected number could help the Nasdaq index score more gains today."

"It is mainly about the US GDP data and the fear of a recession taking place in the US, as the Fed is very much expected to tighten monetary policy even further as inflation remains stubbornly high. The GDP data is expected to slow further, and it is widely anticipated that the number will print a reading of 2%. Anything that matches expectations may not derail the current momentum for the bulls, who are hoping that better-than-expected tech earnings are going to increase the appetite for riskier assets. However, if the GDP number falls below the forecasted level, we could see serious turmoil in the markets, and the US equity indices could experience a major selloff."

On the macro front, an advance reading of Q1's gross domestic product figures will be published at 1330 BST, as will last week's jobless claims data from the Labor Department, while pending home sales data for March will follow at 1500 BST, and April's Kansas Federal Reserve's manufacturing index will be on deck at 1600 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com