Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Little Changed as Investors Monitor China Trade Developments, Earnings Results

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Stock futures were mixed and little changed Thursday, as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings and China trade developments.

Futures associated with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up fractionally, while those affiliated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%. Yesterday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, and benchmark S&P 500 finished down a respective 0.9%, 0.7%, and 0.5%. 

Indexes fell in part Wednesday because of a Reuters report that the White House was mulling curbs on exports to China made with U.S. software. President Donald Trump later said his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was “scheduled.”

With investors monitoring the trade news and awaiting Friday’s CPI inflation report, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.99% from 3.95% at yesterday’s close.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures soared more than 5% to $61.75 a barrel after the U.S. placed additional sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. Gold futures rose 1.6% to $4,130 an ounce, rebounding further from their nearly 5.5% drop Wednesday, their worst day in a dozen years.

Bitcoin traded at $109,300, up from a low of $116,800 earlier Thursday. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher to 99.05.

In corporate news, shares of IBM (IBM) and Tesla (TSLA) were down 7% and 3.5%, respectively, in premarket trading after their quarterly results Wednesday afternoon disappointed investors. Intel (INTC) stock was down less than 1% ahead of its anticipated results after markets close today.

In other moves after earnings releases, shares of T-Mobile US (TMUS) were down 1.5%, while those of Dow (DOW) rose 6% and Honeywell International (HON) advanced 5%.

Also, Moderna (MRNA) stock fell nearly 5% after it announced disappointing CMV vaccine trial results, while shares of D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), IonQ (IONQ), and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) surged a respective 12%, 11%, and 8% on a report by The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration was in talks for the Commerce Department to take equity stakes in quantum computing firms.