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Nasdaq, S&P 500 futures fall as Alphabet leads retreat in mega-cap stocks

2023-10-25 18:15
Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures fell on Wednesday, led by a slide in Alphabet on weak growth in
Nasdaq, S&P 500 futures fall as Alphabet leads retreat in mega-cap stocks

Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures fell on Wednesday, led by a slide in Alphabet on weak growth in its cloud division, while other mega-cap tech stocks also felt the pressure of rising U.S. Treasury yields and investors fretted over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Google-parent Alphabet slid 6.6% in premarket trading as its cloud business crawled to its slowest growth in at least 11 quarters.

Microsoft, on the other hand, rose 3.6% after topping expectations for first-quarter results in all segments, including its cloud business in early signs that the Windows maker's investment in artificial intelligence was paying off.

However, a rise in long-dated U.S. Treasury yields also pressured other mega-cap stocks. Meta Platforms, due to report after the closing bell, fell 0.8%, while Apple and Amazon.com dropped 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively.

At 5:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 8 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 19.5 points, or 0.46%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 105.25 points, or 0.71%.

Boeing, General Dynamics, Hilton, Moody's, T-Mobile and Hess are among the companies scheduled to post results before the opening bell.

Of the 118 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 81% have beaten analysts' earnings expectations, LSEG data showed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Israel intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight as world leaders called for a halt to fighting to allow aid into the besieged enclave.

Amid concerns the conflict will spread across the Middle East, Israel's military said its jets struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers in response to rockets launched from Iran ally Syria.

On the data front, a report on new home sales for September at 10 a.m. ET will also be monitored, with third-quarter gross domestic product, durable goods and personal consumption expenditure data scheduled for the rest of the week.

Among other stocks, Texas Instruments shed 5.1% after forecasting fourth-quarter revenue and profit below estimates.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)