US pre-open: Stocks to rise as investors eye Bank of America, Netflix earnings
US futures pointed to a positive open on Wall Street on Monday as investors eyed earnings from the likes of Bank of America and Netflix and a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin.
At 1055 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were 0.1% firmer.
Investors were looking ahead to a summit in Helsinki later in the day between the US and Russia. The two leaders are due to meet one-on-one in what will be the first ever summit between the two. It comes after 12 Russian agents were indicted in the Mueller Investigation and following clashes between Trump and his Nato allies last week in Brussels over their defence spending policies.
Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: "While the talks themselves may only last a couple of hours, be on the lookout for the post-meeting press conference. The usual Trumpian remarks on politics, trade and oil could move financial markets."
On the corporate front, earnings were due from Bank of America, Blackrock and Netflix.
Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said the second-quarter earnings may provide further clarity for financials and the outperforming technology sector.
"Mixed results from three of the big US banks on Friday saw bank stocks fall, so today’s figures from Bank of America should provide further clarity for financials. Technology stocks have been the place to be invested in the first half of the year with the Nasdaq up over 13% compared to relatively flat performance elsewhere. The first of the FANGS to report, Netflix earnings are hugely important for investors to confirm whether the outperformance of technology stocks is warranted or if the market has got ahead of itself."
Goldman Sachs was likely to be in focus following a New York Times report over the weekend that the bank is planning to name President David Solomon to succeed Lloyd Blankfein as chief executive officer this week.
Amazon shares could be active as the online retail giant's Prime Day gets under way.
Elsewhere, resource stocks could also be in play after Chinese data released earlier showed that the economy slowed modestly in the second quarter, with GDP growth of 6.7%, down from 6.8% in the first quarter but in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, fixed asset investment slowed to 6% in June from 6.1% in May and industrial production slid to 6% last month from 6.8% in May, missing expectations for 6.5% growth. However, retail sales rebounded from multi-year lows of 8.5% in May to come in at 9%, meeting expectations.
On the data front, the NY Empire state manufacturing index for July is at 1330 BST, along with retail sales figures for June.