U.S. Stocks May See Further Downside In Early Trading

Stocks may move to the downside in early trading on Wednesday, extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 48 points.

The Nasdaq futures are pointing to an even lower open, with a steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) likely to weigh on the tech-heavy index.

Netflix is tumbling by 8.3 percent in pre-market trading after the video streaming giant reported first quarter earnings and revenues that beat estimates but much weaker than expected subscriber growth.

As earnings season continues to pick up steam, most major companies have reported better than expected quarterly results.

However, buying interest has remained subdued over the past few sessions, as the upbeat results have been overshadowed by valuation concerns.

A number of big-name companies are scheduled to report their results in the coming days, including Intel (INTC), American Airlines (AAL), AT&T (T), American Express (AXP) and Honeywell (HON).

The U.S. economic calendar remains quiet for the third straight day following the avalanche of data seen to close out the previous week.

Looking ahead, trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to reports on weekly jobless claims and existing home sales.

Following the pullback seen on Monday, stocks saw further downside during the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside on the day.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels of the day but still closed firmly in negative territory. The Dow slid 256.33 points or 0.8 percent to 33,821.30, the Nasdaq slumped 128.50 points or 0.9 percent to 13,786.27 and the S&P 500 fell 28.32 points or 0.7 percent to 4,134.94.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, most European stocks have moved to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent, although the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are plunging $1.64 to $61.03 a barrel after sliding $0.76 to $62.67 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,788.20, up $9.80 compared to the previous session’s close of $1,778.40. On Tuesday, gold climbed $7.80.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.04 yen compared to the 108.11 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.2010 compared to yesterday’s $1.2036.