Morning: Futures push higher as earnings take center stage

The S&P 500 futures are back on the rise and trade 42 points, or 0.9%, above fair value with earnings news taking the headlines. The Nasdaq 100 futures trade 1.3% above fair value after dropping 1.5% yesterday.

The growth stocks seemed to have gotten over the Netflix ( NFLX 219.70, -6.49, -2.9%) disappointment yesterday after Tesla ( TSLA 1049.00, +71.80, +7.4%) exceeded earnings expectations and reiterated its growth expectations. TSLA shares are up 7% in pre-market action.

The airline stocks, meanwhile, continue to fly higher after American ( AAL 21.56, +2.08, +10.7%), United ( UAL 50.45, +3.93, +8.5%), and Alaska Air ( ALK 61.61, +2.92, +5.0%) reported encouraging results and/or provided upbeat revenue expectations.

A contrarian mindset might also be driving the futures market higher with investor sentiment having gotten too bearish in recent weeks. That could explain why AT&T ( T 19.70, +0.27, +1.4%) is trading higher despite missing EPS estimates or why the uptick in Treasury yields hasn’t bothered the market.

The 2-yr yield is up four basis points to 2.61%, and the 10-yr yield is up three basis points to 2.87%. The U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.2% to 100.24. WTI crude futures are up 0.9% to $103.10/bbl.

On the data front, investors will receive weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 195,000) and the Philadelphia Fed Index for April (Briefing.com consensus 21.0) at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for March (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Separately, Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to speak at a panel hosted by the IMF, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET.

In U.S. Corporate news:

  • Tesla (TSLA 1049.00, +71.80): +7.4% after beating top and bottom-line estimates and reiterating expectations to achieve 50% average annual growth in deliveries over a multi-year horizon.
  • AT&T (T 19.70, +0.27): +1.4% despite missing EPS estimates.
  • Dow Inc. (DOW 68.95, +1.41): +2.1% after beating top and bottom-line estimates.
  • American Airlines (AAL 21.56, +2.08): +10.7% after beating top and bottom-line estimates.
  • United Airlines (UAL 50.45, +3.93): +8.5% on expectations for Q2 to be the highest quarterly revenue in company history and for the company to be profitable in FY22. United missed top and bottom-line estimates.
  • Alaska Air (ALK 61.61, +2.92): +5.0% after beating EPS estimates and guiding FY22 revenue above consensus.

Reviewing overnight developments:

  • Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note. Japan’s Nikkei: +1.2% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng: -1.3% China’s Shanghai Composite: -2.3% India’s Sensex: +1.5% South Korea’s Kospi: +0.4% Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries: +0.2%.

    • In economic data:

      • South Korea’s March PPI 1.3% m/m (last 0.5%); 8.8% yr/yr (last 8.5%)
      • Hong Kong’s March Unemployment Rate 5.0% (last 4.5%)
      • New Zealand’s Q1 CPI 1.8% qtr/qtr (expected 2.0%; last 1.4%); 6.9% yr/yr (expected 7.1%; last 5.9%)
    • In news:

      • The Bank of Japan will continue offering to buy unlimited amounts of 10-yr JGBs until Tuesday.
      • Japan’s Finance Minister is expected to meet with his U.S. counterpart today. An extra budget will be compiled by Japan’s government.
      • South Korea’s exports through the first 20 days of April were up 16.9% yr/yr with chip exports increasing 22.9%.
  • Major European indices trade in the green. STOXX Europe 600: +0.8% Germany’s DAX: +1.6% U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.2% France’s CAC 40: +1.9% Italy’s FTSE MIB: +0.3% Spain’s IBEX 35: +1.0%.

    • In economic data:

      • Eurozone’s March CPI 2.4% m/m (expected 2.5%; last 0.9%); 7.4% yr/yr (expected 7.5%; last 5.9%). March Core CPI 1.2% m/m, as expected (last 0.5%); 2.9% yr/yr (expected 3.0%; last 2.7%)
      • France’s April Business Survey 108 (expected 105; last 107)
    • In news:

      • There are growing expectations that the European Central Bank will raise rates as early as July after policymakers de Guindos and Wunsch spoke about the possibility.
      • Greece will increase its minimum wage on May 1.
      • Industrial robotics company ABB reported strong Q2 results. British Prime Minister Johnson indicated that he will seek reelection.

U.S. equity futures:

  • S&P 500 Futures: +37 @ 4,498
  • DJIA Futures: +239 @ 35,399
  • Nasdaq 100 Futures: +167 @ 14,165

Overseas:

  • Europe: DAX +1.6%, FTSE +0.2%, CAC +1.9%
  • Asia: Nikkei +1.2%, Hang Seng -1.3%, Shanghai Composite -2.3%

Commodities:

  • Crude Oil +0.89 @ 103.00
  • Nat Gas +0.036 @ 6.973
  • Gold -15.50 @ 1940.10
  • Silver -0.596 @ 24.675
  • Copper +0.0290 @ 4.6810