By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures were little changed Wednesday amid mixed
first-quarter earnings.
S&P 500 futures added two points, or 0.1%, to 2093. E-mini
Dow futures rose 12 points, or 0.1%, to 17895, and e-mini
Nasdaq-100 futures rose eight points, or 0.2%, to 4437. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
S&P futures fell as low as 2080.30 earlier in the
session.
Coca-Cola Co. reported better-than-expected profit and revenue
in its first quarter as beverage volumes inched up 1%. Shares rose
2.4% in premarket trading.
Tupperware Brands Corp. said first-quarter sales fell 12%,
primarily due to the strong dollar, and gave a soft outlook for the
current quarter. Still, revenue beat expectations. Shares added
0.2% premarket.
Boeing Co. reported first-quarter earnings that topped analysts'
estimates as revenue rose 8.2%. Shares slipped 1.2% premarket.
Stocks fell Tuesday in a quiet session. The Dow lost 0.5% to
17949.59 and the S&P slipped 0.1% to 2097.29.
Including results from 113 companies in the S&P 500,
earnings are on track to fall 3.9% from a year ago, according to
FactSet. About 76% of those companies have beat profit expectations
that were slashed heading into the reporting season. Still,
earnings so far haven't yet sparked a broad move in stocks. Recent
action in the major indexes has been choppy, leaving indexes
trading in a range below all-time highs. The Dow and S&P
haven't hit a fresh record since March 2.
"I really don't feel like we're getting the growth in revenues
that makes me enthusiastic about earnings going forward," said
Carlton Neel, who manages about $1.4 billion as a senior managing
director and portfolio manager at Euclid Advisors LLC.
Still, he said he continues to expect stocks to post yearly
gains. "Given the investible alternatives--the bond market and
commodity markets--the equity market is still probably the cleanest
dirty shirt, but I'm not that enthusiastic about equity returns,"
Mr. Neel said.
In commodity markets, gold futures fell 0.3% to $1199.80 an
ounce. Crude-oil futures inched down 0.1% to $56.57 a barrel.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.905% from
1.913% on Tuesday. Yields fall as prices rise.
Overseas stock action was mixed.
France's CAC 40 inched down 0.1% and Germany's DAX lost 0.6%.
Beaten-up Greek stocks, however, rose 0.7%. The moves come amid
increased attention on Greece's financial situation. Greek Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to meet with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, ahead of a
Friday meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Still, a deal on
fresh aid is unlikely to be reached before the Eurogroup meets on
May 11, a day before Greece must pay EUR780 million ($838 million)
due to the International Monetary Fund.
Japanese stocks gained, pushing the Nikkei Stock Average to
close above 20000 for the first time since 2000.
In economic news, U.S. existing home sales are forecast to rise
3.1% in March to an annual rate of 5.03 million, according to
economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
Josie Cox contributed to this article.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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