U.S. stock futures flat with earnings, politics in focus

Wall Street futures hold ground as investors digest earnings
Wall Street futures hold ground as investors digest earnings

Investing.com – Wall Street futures pointed to a flat to higher open as market players digested a deluge of earnings and watched political developments in Washington, D.C. as talks on healthcare collapse.

The blue-chip Dow futures inched up 5 points, or 0.02%, at 7:46AM ET (11:46GMT), the S&P 500 futures slipped 2 points, or 0.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 6 points, or 0.11%.

Wall Street was awash with reactions to earnings on Tuesday with several reports still on tap.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) soared nearly 11% in pre-market trade Tuesday after reporting after the prior market close a jump in subscriber growth that beat expectations.

In a big move to the downside, Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) saw shares sink 9% in pre-market trade as the motorocycle maker after forecasting a decline in shipments.

Shares in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) gained 2% after the blue chip healthcare products firm said earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.83 in the second quarter, beating expectations for $1.80.

Fellow Dow component, shares in UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) were little changed after the health and well-being firm beat on both the top and bottom line.

Among other blue-chip firms reporting on Tuesday, shares in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) initially took a hit, falling more than 1% in pre-market trade after the broker reported a 0.5% drop in revenue. Shares had since recovered somewhat and investors appeared to find solace in the better-than-expected numbers and were last off only 0.3% in volatile trade.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) will release its own numbers after the market close.

Outside the blue chip index, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was off 0.4% despite releasing numbers that beat on both the top and bottom line.

On the political front, a second attempt by Republicans to replace Obamacare collapsed, delivering a major policy blow to the Trump administration.

Republican Senators Jerry Moran and Mike Lee announced their opposition to a revised Republican healthcare bill late on Monday.

The setback triggered a selloff in the dollar, with the greenback falling to 11-month lows against major rivals.

Also on the Hill, Republicans in the House of Representatives took a first step toward tax reform, with the release of a fiscal 2018 budget plan that would allow a tax reform package to pass Congress without support from Democrats.

Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, bouncing back after yesterday’s decline of more than 1% as market players continued to weigh strong demand against the global supply glut.

U.S. crude futures gained 0.85% to $46.41 by 7:13AM ET (11:13GMT), while Brent oil traded up 0.95% to $48.88.