U.S. Stocks May Resume Upward Trend On Upbeat Earnings News

After coming under pressure late in the previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 65 points.

A positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from big-name companies may help stocks renew the upward trend seen in recent sessions.

Shares of Ford (F) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the auto giant reported much better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Cable giant Comcast (CMCSA) is also likely to see initial strength after reporting third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Shares of Caterpillar (CAT) and Merck (MRK) may also move to the upside after the heavy equipment maker and drugmaker reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations.

On the other hand, shares of eBay (EBAY) are seeing significant pre-market weakness after the eCommerce giant reported better than expected third quarter results but provided disappointing guidance.

Any early buying interest may be partly offset by a report from the Commerce Department showing a dramatic slowdown in the pace of U.S. economic growth in the third quarter.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 2.0 percent in the third quarter after jumping by 6.7 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to slow to 2.7 percent.

The bigger than expected slowdown in GDP growth came as consumer spending rose by 1.6 percent in the third quarter after spiking by 12.0 percent in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims decreased for the fourth straight week in the week ended October 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 281,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level 291,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 290,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the modest decrease, jobless claims once again fell to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of September. Pending home sales are expected to come in unchanged in September after spiking by 8.1 percent in August.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Stocks turned in a lackluster performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday before coming under pressure in the latter part of the session. The Dow and the S&P 500 slid firmly into negative territory, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day nearly flat.

After climbing as much as 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq finished the session up by just 0.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 15,235.84. Meanwhile, the Dow slid 266.19 points or 0.7 percent to 35,490.69 and the S&P 500 fell 23.11 points or 0.5 percent to 4,551.68.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $1.01 to $81.65 a barrel after plunging $1.99 to $82.66 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $5.40 to $1,798.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $5.10 to $1,803.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 113.65 yen versus the 113.83 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1617 compared to yesterday’s $1.1603.