US pre-open: Stocks seen touch lower ahead of BNY Mellon earnings, data
US futures pointed to a flat to marginally weaker open on Wall Street as investors awaited a slew of data releases and earnings from Bank of New York Mellon.
At 1120 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all down 0.1%.
The main indices in Europe were edging lower as investors looked to the latest rate announcement from the European Central Bank and the ensuing press conference with chief Mario Draghi, although no change to rates or the bond-buying programme is expected.
Meanwhile, oil prices advanced ahead of the Energy Information Administration’s crude oil stockpiles report at 1600 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.9% to $51.53 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.8% higher at $54.38.
Remo Fritschi, institutional sales manager at ADS Securities, said: “Earnings season may be grinding on – and indeed posting some impressive results along the way such as those saw last night with Netflix – but Wall Street remains very much on the back foot. After yesterday’s mixed session, we’re looking at a softer start to Thursday’s trade and the focus of attention is very much Donald Trump’s tenure as President, which gets underway tomorrow.
“BNY Mellon is the next of the banks to report before the opening bell, whilst IBM’s numbers after the close will also be under scrutiny - not least give its ability to offer valuable insight to the health of the global economy.”
On the corporate front, Netflix was sharply higher in pre-market trade following the release of better-than-expected quarterly results late on Wednesday, as the streaming company said it added 7.05m subscribers in the fourth quarter.
Bank of New York Mellon and Union Pacific Corp were among the companies slated to report earnings before the bell, with American Express and IBM earnings due after the close.
On the macroeconomic calendar, housing starts and initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT, along with the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey.
Market participants will also be watching out for a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen at Stanford University later in the session.