U.S. stock futures trended higher on Wednesday morning after a volatile trading session, as investors looked beyond the U.S.-China trade war to focus on rate-cut bets and the ongoing earnings season. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) were up 0.97%, 0.53%, and 0.76%, respectively, at 8:22 a.m. EST on October 15.
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Markets were volatile in Tuesday’s regular trading session, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ending lower by 0.16% and 0.76%, respectively, while the Dow Jones rose 0.44%. On Monday night, China announced new sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipping giant Hanwha Ocean. This move followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports after Beijing announced strict export controls on rare earth minerals.
Coming to trending stocks, Bank of America (BAC) stock jumped about 5% in Wednesday’s pre-market trading after announcing upbeat Q3 earnings, driven by investment banking strength. Likewise, Morgan Stanley (MS) on better-than-expected Q3 results. ASML (ASML) stock was up 4% in pre-market trading after the Dutch chip company announced better-than-expected Q3 bookings. Papa John’s (PZZA) stock jumped 12% following a report that the pizza chain has received a $64 per share acquisition bid from Apollo Global Management.
Moreover, the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments that “downside risks to employment appear to have risen,” implying the possibility of more rate cuts, also boosted market sentiment.
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