US STOCKS-Wall St set for muted open; earnings, rate-cut expectations in focus

Gartner

06/02/2024 13:58

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        * 
      Lilly sees 2024 profit above estimates, shares spike
    

        * 
      Palantir shares soar on AI revenue boost
    

        * 
      DuPont sets $1 bln stock buyback target, hikes dividend 
    

        * 
      Futures: Dow off 0.02%, S&P up 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.20% 
    

  
 (Updated at 8:36 a.m. ET/1336 GMT)
    By Johann M  Cherian and Ankika Biswas
       Feb 6 (Reuters) - 
    Wall Street's main indexes were set for a flat open on
Tuesday with big-ticket earnings on the radar, while investors
looked ahead to commentary from policymakers for further clues
on the timing of the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate cut.
    Eli Lilly  LLY.N  jumped 5% in premarket trading after
forecasting 2024 profit above estimates, driven by demand for
its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes medicine
Mounjaro.
        GE HealthCare Technologies  GEHC.O  gained 5.1% after
the medtech firm posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter
earnings.
         DuPont de Nemours  DD.N  added 2.1% after the chemicals
firm beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, announced a new $1
billion share-repurchase program and hiked its dividend. 
    Investors are actively monitoring forecasts from businesses
against the backdrop of high borrowing costs and persistent
slowdown concerns. 
    With around half of the S&P 500 companies having reported
earnings, 80.4% have surpassed expectations, according to LSEG
data last week. Overall S&P 500 earnings are now expected to
have risen 7.8% in the fourth quarter from the year-ago quarter.
        "Companies are telling us they see growth in six months
to a year out and it could be growth in earnings or in the top
line. But it's definitely growth, and it's not the recession
that people were looking for last year," said Kim Forrest, chief
investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
  
        "Certainly there have been winners and losers in certain
categories, but overall, we're getting an economy that's
growing."
  
    Wall Street started the week on a glum note in the previous
session on the heels of a blistering rally in the S&P 500
 .SPX , which notched 13 weekly gains out of 14. The benchmark
index was aided by largely positive quarterly corporate earnings
and optimism that a rate cut by the central bank might just be
around the corner.
    However, Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, have
actively talked down market expectations of a quick start to
policy easing, a key theme in the central bank's interest-rate
decision last week. Strong labor market and economic activity
data have also fed into rate-cut speculations.
    Remarks from the Fed's policymakers through the day,
including voting member Cleveland's Loretta Mester, will be on
investors' watch list.
    Traders are betting with a nearly 65% chance that at least a
25-basis-point rate cut could be delivered in May, with the odds
standing at around 94% for the first cut in June, according to
the CME FedWatch Tool.
    At 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis  1YMcv1  were down 8 points, or
0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis  EScv1  were up 5.25 points, or 0.11%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis  NQcv1  were up 35.75 points, or 0.2%.
    Palantir Technologies  PLTR.N  jumped 19.4% after the data
analytics firm forecast annual profit above estimates, reporting
its "first profitable year" on strong demand for its AI
offerings, while FMC Corp  FMC.N  tumbled 13.6% after
forecasting downbeat first-quarter profit.
        Gartner  IT.N  lost 7.5% after the research and advisory
firm forecast annual results below estimates, while Centene
 CNC.N  climbed 2.6% after the health insurer beat
fourth-quarter revenue estimates on higher premiums in its
commercial insurance business. 

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Pooja Desai)
 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com;))