U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday, setting the indexes on a path to extend their longest winning streak in two years.
At 09:37 ET (13:37 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.1%.
Investors on sidelined ahead of Powell’s speech
The main indexes on Wall Street have been on a strong run of late, with last week’s surprisingly soft jobs data adding to expectations that interest rates had peaked.
The benchmark S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq notched their seventh and eighth straight day of gains on Tuesday, respectively, in the longest winning streak for both indices since 2021. The 30-stock Dow also posted its seventh consecutive positive day.
However, Fed commentary this week has tended to warn against complacency in the fight against inflation, and this brings Fed chief Jerome Powell into focus.
Powell appeared at the Federal Reserve’s Division of Research and Statistics centennial conference this morning, and investors were hoping for more clues on how long monetary policy could stay restrictive. But Powell didn’t address monetary or economic policy issues. He is, however, scheduled to appear on Thursday on another conference panel.
Walt Disney earnings due
The quarterly earnings season remains a key focus for investors, with around 80% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported having beaten earnings estimates this season, while only 59% have also topped revenue expectations, according to data from LSEG.
Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) reported revenue that was inline with expectations and global subscribers fell 700,000. Shares fell more than 13%. Roblox Corp (NYSE:RBLX) beat expectations, with a 20% jump in bookings and daily active users. Shares rose 18%.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) is also due to report its latest quarterly results, this time after the bell. CEO Bob Iger likely to face questions over his strategy to revitalize the structure of the entertainment giant, which has been hit by weakness at its traditional television offerings and lackluster growth at its streaming services.
Oil sinks on large U.S. inventories build
Oil prices retreated Wednesday falling near three-month lows, after a surprise surge in U.S. crude inventories raised concerns about slowing demand at the world’s largest consumer.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, showed that U.S. crude inventories surged almost 12 million barrels last week, much more than expectations for a draw of 300,000 barrels.
The official weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration has been delayed until the week of Nov. 13.
(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/dow-futures-remain-steady-ebay-bumble-report-earnings-3225910
