Nasdaq, S&P set to open higher on tech boost, earnings glee

FILE PHOTO: People walk around the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., December 29, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) -The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to open higher on Wednesday, with Tesla leading gains among megacap stocks after its quarterly results, while upbeat earnings reports across other sectors also offered support.

Tesla outpaced megacap stocks with an 11.5% jump in premarket trading after the electric-vehicle maker eased some worries about growth with a prediction that sales would rise this year and said it would roll out more affordable models in early 2025.

Some other growth stocks also advanced, with Amazon.com, Microsoft and Nvidia up between 0.5% and 1.8%.

The earnings season was in full swing with health insurer Humana and drugmaker Biogen adding 2.8% and 6.6%, respectively, on beating first-quarter profit expectations.

Boston Scientific rose 5.3% after the medical device maker raised its annual profit forecast.

Hasbro gained 6.2% after the toymaker reported a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter sales and handily beat profit estimates.

Wabtec advanced 5.1% after the heavy industrial parts maker raised its full-year profit forecast.

Meanwhile, social media firms Meta Platforms and Snap gained 2.8% and 1.8%, respectively, after the U.S. Senate passed a bill late on Tuesday that would ban TikTok in the United States if its owner, the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, failed to divest the popular short video app.

Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet are scheduled to report their quarterly results later this week.

Adjusted blended earnings are estimated to grow by 6% for the quarter on a year-on-year basis, according to LSEG data.

“Last week was really rough for the Nasdaq, it was almost indiscriminate selling of all growth stocks, so certainly you’re just kind of seeing some bounce,” said Russell Hackmann, president of Hackmann Wealth Partners.

“Overall, it’s been a pretty positive earning season.”

U.S. equities have recouped some losses following last week’s slump when investors turned risk-off amid tensions in the Middle East and more data prompting a tuning to their rate-cut expectations from the Federal Reserve.

Further cushioning equities, data showed new orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased 2.6% in March, compared with expectations of 2.5%, as per economists polled by Reuters.

Focus will now shift to the much anticipated Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index reading for March, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.

At 8:38 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 14 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 13.25 points, or 0.26%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 128.75 points, or 0.73%.

Among other stocks, Visa added 2.6% after the payments processing giant’s second-quarter results sailed past Wall Street estimates.

Texas Instruments climbed 7.2% after the chipmaker forecast second-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates.

Other chip stocks such as Arm Holdings, Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices also rose between 2.0% and 2.3%.

Solar inverter maker Enphase Energy dropped 6.6% after projecting second-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Maju Samuel)