Stock Market Today: Treasury rebound gives stocks a lift; mega-cap tech earnings on deck

Investors are waking up to a huge day on Wall Street, with a host of third quarter earnings, PMI data, a 2-year note auction and mega-cap tech updates all on the slate.

Oct 24, 2023 - 15:30
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Stock Market Today: Treasury rebound gives stocks a lift; mega-cap tech earnings on deck

U.S. equity futures bumped higher Tuesday, thanks to an extended pullback in Treasury bond yield and a modestly softer dollar, as investors look to a crucial day of earnings reports on Wall Street that includes updates from mega-cap tech giants Microsoft  (MSFT) - Get Free Report and Google  (GOOGL) - Get Free Report.

Treasury markets have been dictating action on Wall Street for a number of weeks now, with notable moves in benchmark yields tied to bets on near-term Fed rate hikes, a resilient economy, quicker inflation and concerns over record U.S. budget deficits.

The MOVE index, in fact, which tracks Treasury bond options and is a key market proxy for overall risk, is holding near the highest levels in six months as 10-year notes, which topped 5% for the first time since 2007 earlier this week, eased to 4.823% in overnight trading.

Benchmark 2-year notes, meanwhile, were last seen trading at 5.075%, down around 5 basis points from Monday levels, ahead of a $51 billion auction later in the session.

Stocks have largely been captive to the moves in Treasury yields, although that coupling may have failed yesterday as the sharp pullback in 10-year notes failed to prevent the S&P 500 from falling for a fifth consecutive session and closing at its lowest level since late May. 

Today's session may be more equity-focused, however, with earnings from General Electric  (GE) - Get Free Report, General Motors  (GM) - Get Free Report, 3M  (MMM) - Get Free Report and Verizon  (VZ) - Get Free Report before the opening bell, and Visa following tech giants Google and Microsoft after the bell.

Collective third quarter S&P 500 earnings are likely to grow 1.1% from last year to a share-weighted $463.3 billion, powered by gains in consumer discretionary and communications services stocks, according to Refinitiv data. 

Global markets are still risk-focused, however, even as Israel holds off its planned ground assault on Gaza as it negotiates the fate of 210 hostages taken by Hamas during its surprise attack on October 7.

Oil prices inched back above the $90 market in overnight trading as a result, with Brent crude contracts for December delivery rising 18 cents to $90.03 per barrel and WTI futures for the same month adding 15 cents to $85.64 per barrel.

On Wall Street, the Treasury yield pullback is giving stocks a modest boost, with futures tied to the S&P 500 indicating a 17 point opening bell gain and those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average suggesting a 90 point advance ahead of PMI activity data for the month of October at 9:45 am eastern time.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is priced for an 85 point opening bell gain thanks in part to pre-market gains for Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report, Nvidia  (NVDA) - Get Free Report and Advanced Micro Devices  (AMD) - Get Free Report.

In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was little-changed in a busy earnings session Tuesday following PMI data showing economic activity slumped to its slowest pace in three years this month, adding to concerns the bloc is likely headed into recession.

Overnight in Asia, the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index edged 0.31% higher from the November lows it touched earlier this week, with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising 0.2% on the session as the yen held near the 1.50 mark against the U.S. dollar that could trigger intervention from the Bank of Japan.

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