Reuters (Reuters) – Nasdaq futures sank more than 1% on Thursday as investors took stock of recent Big Tech profits and rising Treasury rates, while keeping an eye on economic data and the ongoing Middle East war.
Even though its third-quarter profits above expectations, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) fell 2.6% in premarket trade, with the Facebook parent anticipating higher 2024 expenditure and hinting that the conflict in Israel and Gaza might reduce fourth-quarter sales.
With the 10-year Treasury yield hanging at 5%, other megacaps such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) lost 2.9% and 1%, respectively, while Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) slid 1.4% ahead of its earnings report after the close.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 2.1% following a 9.5% drop on Wednesday due to poor cloud services revenue, which had led to a drop on Wall Street in the previous session.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 index fell below the carefully monitored 4,200 mark.
Dow e-minis were down 117 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 27.25 points, or 0.65%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 146.25 points, or 1.01%, at 5:14 a.m. ET.
United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), Merck & Co, Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) are among the major companies presenting earnings before the markets open.
According to LSEG statistics, 80% of the 146 S&P 500 businesses that have disclosed their results thus far have exceeded earnings estimates.
During the day, investors will also analyze a slew of data, including September durable goods, an advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, and weekly jobless claims, to assess the economy’s health and the outlook for interest rates.
According to CME’s FedWatch tool, traders estimate a 97% likelihood of the Federal Reserve maintaining its rates constant at its meeting on Nov. 1, with a 69% chance for the December meeting.
