(Bloomberg) — US equity futures steadied Wednesday as chip stocks recovered partially from the previous session’s rout and as traders looked ahead to more major earnings.
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S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts were little changed, a day after a profit warning from Dutch chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV rattled sentiment. Nvidia Corp. ticked higher in premarket trading after sinking nearly 5% on Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley leads Wednesday’s earnings line-up, with investors watching to see if the bank will match Wall Street rivals Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., who beat expectations on strong trading results.
The pound fell 0.6% to below $1.30 for the first time since August and money markets bolstered wagers on Bank of England rate cuts after UK inflation slipped below the BOE’s 2% target. London’s FTSE 100 outperformed European stock indexes and yields on UK gilts tumbled.
ASML’s slide Tuesday sent ripples across the industry, resulting in more than $420 billion of market value loss for an index of US-traded chip stocks and the largest Asian peers.
While the weakness in names like Nvidia and ASML has an impact on the broader market, Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer for macro and multi-asset at Aviva Investors, pointed to the strength of demand for artificial intelligence as well as supportive central bank policy.
“Our view is that there is enough underlying strength in markets,” Fitzgerald said. “Particularly with central banks on an easing path providing broad support.”
In other individual stock moves, JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. shares rose 7% in US premarket trading, after the logistics company’s third-quarter profit topped the analyst estimates. Among the biggest laggards was Qualcomm Inc., which fell on reports that it will likely postpone its offer to buy Intel Corp. until after the US presidential election.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index retreated 0.4% after ASML extended losses. LVMH and Salvatore Ferragamo SpA led the retreat in luxury stocks after weak updates, both slumping as much as 7%.
In Asia, a Bloomberg gauge of China’s property shares surged as much as 8.3% as markets prepared for a joint news conference to be held by government officials including the housing minister and central bank on Thursday.
In commodities, oil held near $74 a barrel after slumping on Tuesday, as traders continued to monitor the risk of escalation in the Middle East and the outlook for next year. Gold rallied toward a fresh record high as investors turned their attention to the upcoming US election, with polls forecasting a razor-thin contest with less than three weeks to go.
Key events this week:
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Morgan Stanley earnings, Wednesday
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ECB rate decision, Thursday
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US retail sales, jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
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Fed’s Austan Goolsbee speaks, Thursday
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China GDP, Friday
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US housing starts, Friday
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Fed’s Christopher Waller, Neel Kashkari speak, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:01 a.m. New York time
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Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%
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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
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The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%
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The MSCI World Index fell 0.2%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
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The euro was little changed at $1.0890
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The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3016
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The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 149.38 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin rose 1.9% to $67,759.12
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Ether rose 1.7% to $2,616.01
Bonds
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The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.01%
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Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.20%
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Britain’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 4.08%
Commodities
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West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $70.17 a barrel
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Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,673.92 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Winnie Hsu and Sujata Rao.
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