Dow Futures Edge Lower As Trump, Powell Feud Escalates, Earnings Take Centerstage: TSM, PEP, UAL, GE Among Stocks To Watch

U.S. stocks appear set for a negative opening on Thursday amid increasing tensions between the Trump administration and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with investors processing an earnings-heavy week.

On Wednesday, equity markets reacted negatively after reports stated that President Donald Trump pitched an idea to Republicans to fire Powell. Trump made the comments to Republican House members in the Oval Office.

However, he subsequently denied these reports, saying that “we’re not planning on doing anything.”

Investors will keep an eye out for jobless claims data and earnings from major companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., PepsiCo, Abbott, and others.

While Dow Jones futures were down 0.12% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100’s futures rose 0.15%. Futures of the Russell 2000 index fell 0.33%.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.07% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.19% on Thursday morning. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits has been in the ‘bearish’ territory over the past week.

Asian markets ended Thursday’s trading session on a largely positive note, with the Nikkei 225 leading with a decline of 0.6%, followed by the Shanghai Composite at 0.37%, the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index at 0.3%, and the KOSPI at 0.19%.

The Hang Seng index closed the day lower by 0.08%.

Stocks To Watch

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM): The world’s largest chipmaker’s earnings per ADR stood at $2.47 in the second quarter, while revenue came in at $30.07 billion, exceeding the company’s guidance.
• PepsiCo Inc. (PEP): The beverage maker reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.48, missing Wall Street estimates of $2.03, according to Stocktwits data.
• United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL): United Airlines stock dropped over 3% in Thursday’s pre-market trading session after the company’s outlook disappointed Wall Street.
• Netflix Inc. (NFLX), GE Aerospace (GE), Abbott Labs (ABT), U.S. Bancorp (UBP): Several big companies are scheduled to report earnings on Thursday.

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