By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to end the week a little higher, but trading is likely to be cautious as investors continue to take their cue from an earnings season which is generating its fair share of disappointments, the latest of which came from streaming giant Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Netflix, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the wave of lockdowns across the globe in the second quarter, reported after the bell on Thursday that it expects subscriber growth to slow to 2.5 million in the third quarter, less than half of what Wall Street had expected. Its shares were down 8.2% by 7:15 AM ET (1115 GMT).
The broader market was up, however: S&P 500 Futures traded 11 points, or 0.4%, higher, Nasdaq Futures up 95 points, or 0.9%. The Dow Futures contract rose 53 points, or 0.2%.
As it stands, the S&P 500 cash index is up 1% on the week, theDow Jones Industrial Average up 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite is 1.4% lower.
Earlier Friday, Blackrock (NYSE:BLK) reported a 22% gain in per share earnings for the quarter, somewhat better than expected. The world's largest asset manager also reported $100 billion of net inflows and $1.1 billion of stock buybacks. Its stock gained 1.9% premarket.
Optimism about the general trajectory of recovery is still outweighing alarm at the spread of the coronavirus across the U.S. The U.S. reported a new daily record of over 77,000 new virus cases on Thursday, taking its total to over 3.5 million. U.S. deaths also rose to their highest for a single day since early June.
More than 13.8 million people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19, with Brazil passing the 2 million and India the 1 million mark. More than 590,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and China continue to spar. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that administration officials are discussing banning travel by China’s Communist Party members and their families to the U.S., in response to the new security law in Hong Kong, while there are likely to be further moves against Huawei and video service TikTok.
U.S. economic data Friday includes the latest housing starts, which are expected to have risen 1.1 million in June, after increasing just under one million in May. Building permits are expected to have jumped to 1.29 million from 1.216 million a month earlier.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is expected to rise to 79 in July, from 78.1 last time out.
Oil prices were lower, but essentially range-bound. At 7:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% lower at $40.52 a barrel, while Brent fell 0.6% to $43.11.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,805.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1427, up 0.4%.