By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Apple climbs nearly 2% premarket after earnings beat
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Wall Street remained jittery on Tuesday,
with stock futures sliding into the red ahead of the Federal
Reserve kicking off its two-day policy-setting meeting, which will
be closely watched for any clues on the first rate hike.
A slew of earnings reports were also on tap to keep investors
busy, including results from Ford, Pfizer and T-Mobile ahead of the
bell.
Adding to Monday's losses
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-investors-begin-the-wait-for-apple-results-fomc-meeting-2015-04-27),
futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YMM5) dropped 36
points, or 0.2%, to 17,954, while those for the S&P 500 index
(ESM5) gave up 0.2% to 2,100. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index
(NQM5) lost 4.50 points, or 0.1%, to 4,520.50, with Apple Inc.
(AAPL) shares helping cap losses for the benchmark.
"With the strength in equities of late, investors are looking
for any excuse to lock in some profits and Fed meetings tend to
provide a prompt," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at
stockbroker Interactive Investor, in a note. "However, with a low
rate and artificially stimulated global environment equities are
still looking to continue their trend higher."
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting kicks off on
Tuesday, but the interest-rate statement isn't released until
Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors will be
looking for clues as to whether a rate hike in June is still in
play, although a large majority of Fed watchers don't think the
central bank will provide any hints, preferring to keep all options
on the table
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-not-ready-to-concede-it-wont-hike-this-summer-2015-04-27).
For the discussion on Wednesday, the FOMC will have the
first-quarter GDP number to include in their assessment of the
economy and interest rates.
Tuesday's data: Consumer confidence, due at 10 a.m. Eastern
Time, is expected to climb to 102.5 in April, after surging to
101.3 in March
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-confidence-surges-in-march-on-short-term-outlook-2015-03-31).
Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said in a note
the confidence data will be "closely followed" as it "as it could
carry some impetus for the timing of a rate hike by the Fed".
At 9 a.m., the Case-Shiller home price reading is out, forecast
to show continued moderate growth just shy of 5% year-over-year,
according Daiwa Capital Markets.
Earnings: Reporting ahead of the bell, Ford Motor Co.(F) is
projected to report first-quarter earnings of 26 cents a share,
according to a consensus survey by FactSet.
United Parcel Service Inc.(UPS) is forecast to post
first-quarter earnings of $1.09 a share.
Drug maker Pfizer Inc.(PFE) is forecast to post first-quarter
earnings of 49 cents a share.
T-Mobile US Inc.(TMUS) is likely to post a loss of 6 cents a
share in the first quarter.
Valero Energy Corp.(VLO) is expected to report first-quarter
earnings of $1.61 a share.
Luxury-goods retailer Coach Inc.(COH) is projected to post
fiscal third-quarter earnings of 35 cents a share.
Shares of Whirlpool Corp.(WHR) dropped 1.4% premarket after the
home-appliances maker cut its full-year earnings guidance.
And then after the market closes, Twitter Inc.(TWTR) is expected
to post first-quarter earnings of 4 cents a share.
GoPro Inc.(GPRO) is likely to report earnings of 18 cents a
share in the first quarter.
Kraft Foods Group Inc.(KRFT) is projected to report
first-quarter earnings of 81 cents a share.
Apple earnings: After Monday's closing bell, tech giant Apple
(AAPL) posted a 33% rise in quarterly profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-posts-33-rise-in-earnings-raises-div-2015-04-27),
boosted by a surge in iPhone sales and solid growth in China. Apple
also raised its dividend, by 11%, and its share-repurchase program
by $50 billion, to $140 billion. Shares were up 1.9% ahead of the
market open. Read: How to play Apple stock after the earnings call
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-play-apple-stock-post-earnings-2015-04-27)
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-play-apple-stock-post-earnings-2015-04-27)Morgan
Stanley lifted its price target on Apple to $166 from $160 and said
the company is among its "best idea" stocks.
Other markets:European stock markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-fall-as-commerzbank-shares-drop-fed-meeting-eyed-2015-04-28)
were lower, with investors there were also taking a cautious stance
ahead of the Fed meeting.
Asia stocks closed mixed
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Japanese
shares shrugging off a sovereign credit downgrade by Fitch
Ratings.
Metals dropped across the board, and so did energy prices
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-slides-with-brent-dropping-below-65-2015-04-28).
The dollar (DXY) traded mixed against other major currencies.
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