Wall Street set to open higher as earnings pick up

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - U.S. stocks looked set to open higher on Wednesday as investors moved on to the next set of earnings reports, a day after Wall Street lost some ground due to weak results from some corporate heavyweights.

Morgan Stanley helped the rebound, rising nearly 3 percent in premarket trading after reporting a surge in quarterly profit.

Shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo edged up slightly.

Key companies scheduled to release results after markets close on Wednesday include Dow component American Express, eBay and Qualcomm.

Tepid quarterly numbers from Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson pulled the major U.S. stock indexes lower on Tuesday.

Dow e-minis were up 44 points, or 0.22 percent, at 8:32 a.m. ET (1232 GMT), with 21,661 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.37 percent, with 124,872 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 24 points, or 0.45 percent, on volume of 24,602 contracts.

"This bounce today in U.S. equities is perhaps investors looking beyond daily moves," said James Athey, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

"While there has been some disappointment, the big picture has not vastly changed. We're still talking about a global economy which is doing better... and central banks that are looking to normalize, and all of that should be supportive for risk assets."

With Wall Street near record levels and worries over President Donald Trump's ability to carry out his pro-growth promises, investors are hoping quarterly earnings will justify pricey market valuations.

So far, first-quarter earnings have been promising. Of the 45 S&P 500 companies that have released results, nearly 76 percent have topped earnings estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 10.7 percent in the quarter - the best since 2011.

While no top-tier economic data is due on Wednesday, investors will keep an eye on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which will give a glimpse into economic conditions across the United States. The data is due at 2:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).

Shares of IBM sank 5.3 percent to $161.05 after the company reported a bigger-than-expected decline in revenue for the first time in five quarters.

Abbott was up 2.7 percent after reporting higher- than-expected profit and sales.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)