US stock futures advanced Wednesday, as investors cheered Apple Inc.’s earnings and waited for a Federal Reserve statement due in the afternoon.
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Low expectations of rate hikes, robust economic data and higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings set Wall Street on a record-setting streak in the past two weeks.
WestJet Airlines Ltd rose 0.8 per cent to $23.11 after reporting higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit on more passenger traffic and lower fuel costs.
Micron shares rose 4.7 percent to $13.67 after a Credit Suisse analyst said the company’s new rights agreement increased prospects of a strategic investment in the near term.
Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 1.25 percent drop in the telecom services index.
Verizon Communications fell 1.9 percent after subscriber numbers fell below estimates.
Twitter has been struggling with sluggish user growth that has trailed Facebook and other social media competitors and its stock lost 1.07 percent ahead of its report.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday to decide whether the US economy is strong enough to absorb an interest rate hike. Almost 90 per cent of companies in the S&P 500 Index that have changed previously disclosed expectations for future earnings have raised the target, among those that reported results between June 1 and July 21, according to data compiled by the bank.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.1 per cent to end at 18,473.75 and the S&P 500 edged up 0.03 per cent to 2,169.18 after spending much of the day at a loss.
The Nasdaq composite gave back 11.13 points at 5,089.03.
After investors shrugged off Britain’s unexpected vote in late June to leave the European Union, the S&P 500 rallied and is up 6 per cent year to date.
Nearly a third of the way into second-quarter reports, S&P 500 companies overall are expected to see earnings dip 3.5 percent, not as bad as the 4.5 percent dip predicted at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Earlier, McDonald’s sank 4.46 per cent after reporting worse-than-expected quarterly sales at established US restaurants.
Dow member Caterpillar climbed 1.6 percent after announcing plans for additional job cuts in the second half of 2016 as sluggish conditions in energy and mining weighed on second-quarter earnings.
The S&P 500 Index rose less than one point to 2169.14 at 4pm in NY, narrowly avoiding its first two-day losing streak since the Brexit secession vote a month ago.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,552 to 1,278.
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After recovering from its losses following the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union, the S&P 500 went on to post seven records in 10 days. About 5.9 billion shares changed hands in USA exchanges, below the almost 7 billion daily average over the past 20 sessions.
