By Investing.com– U.S. stock index futures moved little in evening deals on Thursday as investors hunkered down before a string of major technology earnings in the coming week.
While Wall Street indexes rose tracking positive earnings from Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), they were still nursing losses for the week amid persistent anxiety over the upcoming presidential election and expectations of slower rate cuts.
Risk appetite was also quashed by fears of worsening geopolitical conditions in the Middle East, as Israel prepared a strike against Iran.
S&P 500 Futures steadied at 5,847.25 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.1% to 20,365.75 points by 19:30 ET (23:30 GMT). Dow Jones Futures steadied at 42,591.0 points.
Mega tech earnings due in the coming week
The third-quarter earnings season is set to peak next week with five of Wall Street’s so-called “Magnificent Seven” set to report earnings.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will report on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Wednesday. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) will then report on Thursday.
The five firms represent a large chunk of overall market capitalization in Wall Street, with their earnings likely to act as a bellwether for the broader market. Focus will be squarely on whether artificial intelligence proved to be a major earnings driver, especially amid increased capital expenditures on the fast-growing sector.
Positive earnings from Tesla this week spurred some optimism over the upcoming reports. Tesla rallied nearly 22% on Thursday, and fell 1% in aftermarket trade.
Beyond the Magnificent Seven, a barrage of other Wall Street majors are set to report next week, including Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD), Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), and Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER). Focus will be on whether corporate earnings were able to weather headwinds from sticky inflation and high interest rates, after a mixed batch of earnings in the past week.
Wall St nurses weekly losses
While Wall Street indexes advanced on Thursday, they were still down between 0.4% and 2.1% this week, as risk appetite remained frail. U.S. stocks were also subject to some profit-taking after hitting a series of record highs earlier in October.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,809.86 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.8% to 18,413.91 points on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, falling 0.3% to 42,374.36 points, and was also the weakest performer among its peers this week.
Markets were spooked by rising Treasury yields, as investors positioned for a slower pace of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Increased odds of a Donald Trump presidency, over Kamala Harris, also saw markets positioning for inflationary U.S. policies in the coming years.