US pre-open: Futures little changed ahead of data points, Q2 earnings

(Sharecast News) - Dow Jones futures were little changed ahead of the bell on Thursday as market participants looked ahead to the release of some key data points and more corporate earnings.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.01%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.12% and 0.15% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 504.22 points lower on Wednesday as the broad-based market index delivered its worst session since 2022 following the market's first taste of big-name Q2 tech earnings.

Saxo's Mike Owens said: "Shares in the US tech giants are facing a reset after an incredible run of outperformance over the past 18 months. There are a cocktail of reasons affecting different parts of the market ranging from cost and profitability of AI investments, weakening consumer outlook, trade tariffs and sanctions on sales to China and the anticipation of a new rate-cutting cycle from the Federal Reserve. Some of the equity sell-off feels completely logical, investors can crystallize tech stock profits and still lock in over 4% yield on government bonds rather than risk losing 5-6% a day on some of the favoured equity names."

Earnings were in focus early on Thursday, with Ford shares down 13% after the automotive giant's Q2 earnings came in well and truly below expectations, while Chipotle shares was in the green after the fast-food giant topped both earnings and revenue expectations.

Still to come, American Airlines, Honeywell and Hasbro will all report earnings on Thursday.

On the macro front, a preliminary reading of July's PCE index will be published at 1330 BST, as will weekly jobless claims and durable goods orders data, while pending home sales numbers will follow at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com