U.S. stock futures traded lower headed into the market open on Thursday morning, as weaker-than-expected quarterly profit at Tesla (TSLA) weighed on electric-vehicle stocks.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.62%, while futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped nearly 132 points, or 0.39%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell nearly 1%.
Tesla shares fell as much as 7% in pre-market training after the company reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. Tesla’s recent price cuts weighed on profits as the electric-vehicle maker reported quarterly gross margins of 19.3%, while Wall Street analysts had expected 20.7%.
Shares of traditional automakers making the push into EVs followed Tesla lower with both Ford (F) and General Motors (GM) falling more than 2% in pre-market trading. EV focused companies, Rivian (RIVN) and NIO (NIO) also saw shares decline more than 2%.
Shares of IBM (IBM) rose roughly 1.5% in pre-market trading as the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.36 against a Street estimate of $1.25.
American Express (AXP) shares ticked higher in pre-market trading as the company’s $14.3 billion in revenue beat estimates. American Express CEO Stephen Squeri told Yahoo Finance that nothing in the quarter “went really unexpected.”
The major averages closed Wednesday largely flat as investors digested corporate earnings from Netflix (NFLX) and Morgan Stanley (MS), among other companies. The Federal Reserve’s most recent Beige Book report showed credit conditions tightened in the month following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
Oil futures traded lower on Thursday with West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) and Brent (BZ=F) falling roughly 1.5%. Brent Crude has now traded lower in three of the last four trading sessions, with prices dropping below $82 a barrel.
Economic data is also in focus on Thursday morning as weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected. The report said 245,000 jobless claims were filed. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had been expecting 240,000 claims. Existing home sales are also expected on Thursday morning.
Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.
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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-today-live-updates-april-20-115343246.html