By Tomi Kilgore and Tommy Stubbington
U.S. stock futures waffled slightly below record levels, as
investors digested mixed earnings reports and some weakness in
overseas markets.
About 90 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures eased four points, or less than 0.1%, to 16454. On Tuesday,
the Dow climbed 65 points, or 0.4%, to within 0.4% of its Dec. 31
record closing high of 16576.66.
S&P 500 index futures slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 1872
and Nasdaq-100 futures gave up six points, or 0.2%, to 3579.
Changes in stock futures don't always accurately predict stock
moves after the opening bell.
The S&P 500 posted a sixth straight gain Tuesday, the
longest win streak since the seven-session stretch ending Sept. 11,
2013, to close 0.6% shy of its April 2 record high of 1890.90.
The market's resilience over the last week, after a sharp
selloff in previously highflying biotechnology and smaller
technology stocks rattled investors earlier in the month, has been
supported by upbeat corporate news and improving economic data.
One of the previous highfliers, Gilead Sciences, climbed 4.3% in
premarket trading after reporting late Tuesday earnings and revenue
that were well above analyst estimates.
Meanwhile, earnings reports among Dow components were mixed on
Wednesday. Boeing rose 2.3% after beating first-quarter adjusted
earnings and revenue estimates and raising its full-year core
earnings outlook.
AT&T fell 2.3% after earnings fell from year-ago levels but
slightly topped estimates. The stock closed Tuesday at a 5
1/2-month high.
Procter & Gamble inched up 0.1% after the consumer products
giant beat fiscal third-quarter earning forecasts, but cut its
full-year outlook.
Investors also have earnings from several high-profile
technology companies to look forward to after the close. Among the
stocks of those companies seeing early activity, Apple slipped 0.1%
and Facebook gained 0.5%.
With 26% of the S&P 500 companies reporting results through
Wednesday morning, overall first-quarter earnings are seen
declining 0.7% on the year, a slight improvement from expectations
of a 1.4% decline when earnings season began.
At 10 a.m. Eastern, new home sales for March are expected to
rise 2.3% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 450,000.
Earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage
applications fell 3.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the latest
week, marking the fifth decline in six weeks.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.709% from
2.726% late Tuesday.
Crude oil futures lost 0.1% to $101.61 a barrel, after suffering
the biggest decline since Jan. 2 on Tuesday amid supply concerns.
Gold futures gained 0.5% to $1,286.90 an ounce. The dollar lost
some ground against the euro and the yen.
European markets pulled back after data showing the economic
recovery in the euro zone is gathering momentum weakened hopes for
further easing measures from the European Central Bank. The Stoxx
Europe 600 was down 0.4% and on track to snap a three-session win
streak.
The composite Purchasing Managers Index for the euro zone--a
gauge of activity across the manufacturing and services
sectors--rose to 54.0 in April from 53.1 in March, beating
expectations of 53.3. A reading above 50 indicates month-to-month
expansion in activity.
"Stronger PMIs might encourage [ECB President Mario] Draghi to
sit on his hands, especially with European elections approaching,"
said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, chief economist and strategist at
London-based brokerage and wealth manager Charles Stanley, which
has around GBP18 billion ($30.3 billion) of assets under
management.
Asian markets were mixed. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%
after data showing the manufacturing sector improved slightly in
March, but still pointed to a fourth-straight month of contraction.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rallied 1.1%.
In other corporate news, Plug Power slumped 9.7% after the
fuel-cell technology company said late Tuesday that it was planning
a public share offering, its third equity offering this year.
Illumina ran up 8.8% after the biotechnology company reported
late Tuesday better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and
provided a second-quarter outlook that was above current
projections.
Biogen Idec, another biotechnology company that has rebounded
nicely over the last week, after correcting sharply the previous
month, advanced 1.2% after reporting strong increases in
first-quarter earnings and revenue and raising its full-year
outlook.
Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@wsj.com and Tommy
Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com