EBAY eBay Inc

By Victor Reklaitis and Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch

Apple earnings on deck after the closing bell

U.S. stock-index futures on Thursday were set to fall, kicking off a downbeat start to the month with market participants attributing the downdraft to concerns about lackluster earnings, resurgent inflation and a climb in global bond yields.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gave up 210 points, or 0.8%, to 25,926, while S&P 500 futures fell 16 points, or 0.6%, to 2,810. Nasdaq-100 futures edged down by 57.50 points, or 0.8%, to 6,902.

On Wednesday, the Dow rose by 72.50 points, or 0.3% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-set-to-stabilize-after-shedding-540-points-in-2-days-2018-01-31), while the S&P and Nasdaq Composite inched higher. The moves came as the Federal Reserve kept a key interest rate steady but signaled it's on course to hike rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-takes-step-toward-rate-hike-as-baton-set-to-pass-to-powell-2018-01-31) at its meeting next month.

Check out:Here's how the Dow, S&P 500 tend to perform after a rip-roaring January (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-the-dow-sp-500-tend-to-perform-after-a-rip-roaring-january-2018-01-31)

What are strategists saying?

"The Federal Reserve has given us a clear message that, barring some sort of collapse in sentiment over the next few weeks, March is good to go to lift the fed funds rate," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG.

"The narrative perhaps even throws weight to the camp that we would see hikes in the August, September and December meetings, too," he said in a note.

Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth, said that reflationary fears, as the 10-year Treasury yield rises to a fresh three-year high above 2.75%, may be causing concerns. He also said that signs that inflation may be rearing up has been rattling investors.

"I think the market has been sniffing around for something to get concerned about and I think that the more directionless trade is the more you worry about inflation," he said.

Which stocks look like key movers?

The stocks of eBay Inc.(EBAY) and Qorvo Inc.(QRVO) were both up at least 10% in premarket trading, making them the S&P 500's biggest gainers.

Online auctioneer eBay late Wednesday said it plans to take over crucial payments-processing duties (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ebay-breaks-up-with-paypal-again-stock-soars-as-paypal-shares-dive-2018-01-31) from PayPal Holdings Inc.(PYPL) as it posted quarterly earnings. PayPal's stock fell 7.2% premarket in the wake of that announcement for the S&P's largest drop, even as the payments company posted quarterly profit that beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/paypal-stock-falls-after-fourth-quarter-earnings-2018-01-31).

Qorvo was jumping after posting better-than-expected quarterly results (https://www.barrons.com/articles/qorvo-stock-already-reflects-weak-apple-results-says-drexel-1517437350) late Wednesday. The company, an Apple supplier, was created by the merger of TriQuint Semiconductor and RF Micro Devices.

Facebook Inc.'s stock (FB) was 1.1% higher ahead of the open, after the social media giant late Wednesday reported double-digit advertising price growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-earnings-stock-touches-record-after-massive-ad-price-increase-2018-01-31) amid massive changes to its core product. Shares initially dropped as the company's release revealed a drop in usage of its platform.

Check out:Facebook's 'powerful' ad business means it's time to buy -- analysts react to earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebooks-powerful-ad-business-means-its-time-to-buy-analysts-react-to-earnings-2018-02-01)

Apple Inc. shares (AAPL) were little changed premarket ahead of the tech giant's report after the closing bell.

See:The $1,000 iPhone X remains the story as Apple's earnings arrive (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-forget-taxes-and-batteries-the-1000-iphone-x-remains-the-story-2018-01-26)

Microsoft Corp.'s stock (MSFT) was down less than 1.8% premarket after the software heavyweight posted better-than-expected earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-microsoft-slide-as-software-giant-reports-a-quarterly-loss-on-tax-cuts-2018-01-31).

First Take:Microsoft earnings show Nadella is blazing the right path (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-earnings-show-nadella-is-blazing-the-right-path-2018-01-31)

What could help drive markets?

The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits in late January fell by 1,000 to 230,000 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-fall-slightly-to-230000-layoffs-extremely-low-2018-02-01), keeping initial U.S. jobless claims near a 45-year low. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 240,000 reading in the seven days ended Jan. 27.

Meanwhile, the productivity of U.S. firms and workers fell (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-productivity-dips-01-in-fourth-quarter-ends-2017-on-sour-note-2018-02-01) at a 0.1% annual pace in the fourth quarter. Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast a 0.2% gain.

At 9:45 a.m. Eastern, investors are slated to get a Markit report on January manufacturing, then an ISM reading on that same topic is due at 10 a.m. Eastern. A December release on construction spending is due at 10 a.m. Eastern, too.

Reports on U.S. auto sales for January are expected to roll in throughout the session.

Check out:MarketWatch's Economic Calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)

On the Federal Reserve front, San Francisco Fed President John Williams is due to give a speech at The City Club in San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

What are other assets doing?

European stocks traded lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-break-3-day-losing-run-after-solid-finance-tech-earnings-2018-02-01), while Asian markets closed mixed. Gold were little changed, as oil futures advanced. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was dipping.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 01, 2018 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)

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