U.S. stock-index futures fell, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will post the first two consecutive days of losses in more than 20 days, as investors focused on jobs data and corporate earnings.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December declined almost 0.2% to 1,757.5 at 8:05 a.m. in New York. The benchmark index recorded gains of 4.9% in October, the biggest in three months, as lawmakers reached to an agreement to extend the U.S. borrowing authority, avoiding a possible debt default. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts lost 27 points, or 0.2%, to 15,526 today.
“Company outlooks are still quite cautious,” Alexandra Walker-Ott, an equity fund manager at Swiss & Global Asset Management Ltd., said by phone to Bloomberg. “People are pricing strong earnings accelerations in the next few quarters, so there will inevitably be downgrades to expectations. The market isnt cheap anymore and we may have a healthy correction soon.”
Data report later today will shed more light on the health of the economy. At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, jobless claims data is expected to be released. According to analysts from MarketWatch jobless claims fell to 335,000 in the week ended October 26 from 350,000 in the prior week. Chicago PMI data for October will be out at 9:45 a.m., expected to show a drop to 54.5 from 55.7 in September.
In corporate news, companies from Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips to American International Group are expected to report earnings later today.
Exxon, is believed by analysts polled by FactSet, to post third-quarter earnings of $1.77 a share. The company’s board on Wednesday left unchanged the fourth-quarter dividend from the third quarter. ConocoPhillips is likely to post third-quarter earnings of $1.46 a share. AIG is projected to report third-quarter earnings of 96 cents a share.
Among todays movers are expected to be some of the companies who posted earning reports on Wednesday after closing bell such as Facebook Inc. Company climbed 3.5% after saying it earned 25 cents a share on an adjusted basis in the third quarter, beating the average consensus of 19 cents a share.
Expedia Inc. added 19% in pre-market after late Wednesday reporting an 8% rise in adjusted earnings per share to $1.43, exceeding forecasts.
Starbucks Corp. sank 1.7% in pre-market trade, even as the company on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter profit came in at 63 cents a share, beating the consensus estimate of 60 cents a share.
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