Nasdaq set to hit record high as tech stocks rise

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - The Nasdaq was set to hit a fresh record on Wednesday, helped by a rise in technology stocks, while the S&P and the Dow were headed for a slightly higher opening as investors focused on earnings.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record high on Tuesday helped by a jump in Netflix, with the index posting its longest streak of gains since February 2015.

The S&P tech sector has been the best performing sector this year despite concerns about stretched valuations as investors look for growth sectors immune to policy uncertainties.

"Earnings so far have been a mixed bag with most of the big banks down, causing the S&P and Dow to underperform slightly in the near term," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer at 50 Park Investments.

"On the other hand, Netflix's strong results has caused money to move to tech stocks in anticipation of stronger earnings. If the big names such as Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon are able to show growth in an otherwise low-growth environment then investors will pay for these stocks."

All three big tech names will report results next week.

Dow e-minis were up 1 point, or 0 percent, with 13,923 contracts changing hands at 8:12 a.m. ET (1212 GMT).

S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.25 points, or 0.05 percent, with 90,769 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 14 points, or 0.24 percent, on volume of 22,317 contracts.

Investors will continue to focus on quarterly earnings to see if high valuations are justified in the face of mixed economic data, tepid inflation and policy gridlock in Washington.

Analysts estimate an 8.5 percent rise in second-quarter earnings and a 4.7 percent increase in revenue for S&P 500 companies from a year earlier.

This follows a robust first quarter when U.S. companies posted the fastest rate of growth in earnings since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

TMobile, Qualcomm and American Express are among the companies that will report results after the bell.

Shares of IBM fell 2.7 percent in premarket trading after the company's quarterly revenue came in below expectations. [nL3N1K95CQ]

United Continental Holdings was down 4.3 percent, a day after the airline's quarterly results beat expectation but costs rose. [nL1N1K91WI]

Morgan Stanley rose 2.3 percent after the bank's quarterly profit beat expectations and bond trading revenue declines were modest compared with arch-rival Goldman Sachs'. [nL3N1KA3MM]

Discovery Communications was up 7.5 percent after a source told Reuters the company and Scripps Networks Interactive are engaged in merger talks. Scripps was up 13.4 percent. [nL3N1K95VV]

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Arun Koyyur)