Wall Street set to open lower as Apple drags

EghtesadOnline; U.S. stock index futures pointed to the second straight day of decline at the open, with Apple dropping on disappointing quarterly sales and oil prices pressured by lingering concerns about a glut.

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26 October 2016

Shares of the world's most valuable public company (AAPL.O) looked set for a lower open, trading down 2.8 percent premarket after the company said sales of its flagship iPhones fell for the third quarter in a row and forecast a disappointing profit margin forecast.

Oil prices fell nearly 2 percent - Brent crude LCOc1 was on track for the fourth day of declines - after Iraq said it did not want to join an output-limiting deal with OPEC members, and U.S. drillers stepped up work, according to Reuters.

The dollar index .DXY was marginally lower on Wednesday, a day after the currency hit an eight-month high.

Movement on Wall Street has largely been dictated by corporate earnings in the past few weeks, but events such as the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's policy meet next week have added volatility.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, after a set of housing and consumer products companies reported weak results and forecasts.

Still, S&P 500 companies are collectively expected to report a 1.8 percent rise in earnings, snapping a four-quarter streak of profit declines, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"The earnings season on balance has been much better than expected, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Equity Capital Markets.

"But the glaring difference this quarter is that companies which meet or beat expectations get rewarded modestly while those that miss are seeing a more severe reaction."

Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 62 points, or 0.34 percent, with 29,159 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 7 points, or 0.33 percent, with 161,352 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 20 points, or 0.41 percent, on volume of 29,840 contracts.

Shares of Dow component Boeing (BA.N) rose 1.6 percent after the world's largest jetliner maker reported a 33.7 percent rise in quarterly profit.

Biogen (BIIB.O) rose 2.1 percent to $294 after the drugmaker reported a rise in quarterly profit that blew past estimates.

Coca-Cola (KO.N) rose 1.32 percent after the beverage maker's quarterly revenue beat market expectations.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) dropped 4.2 percent to $388.51 after the restaurant chain operator reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales at established restaurants.

Edwards Lifesciences (EW.N) plunged 14.10 percent to $97.65 premarket after the medical device maker reported third-quarter sales that missed expectations.

A report at 10:00 a.m. ET is likely to show new home sales slipped 1 percent to 600,000 units last month.