US Stock Futures Turn Lower, Fall Off Record-Setting Pace
Frankfurt (Jan 23) European stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, while U.S. equity futures turned lower after rising following Monday's move by lawmakers to end a three-day shutdown of the federal government and reacted to an upgrade in global growth estimates from the International Monetary Fund.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell slightly but had risen in the early hours of trading as investors reacted to the agreement between Senate lawmakers that will fund the federal government until Feb. 8. Germany's DAX performance index also touched a fresh all-time peak of 13,596.89 points on the back of a 1% gain for the benchmark that was driven in part by solid gains for Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) , the world's biggest carmaker, announced strong China sales and a bullish 2018 outlook.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62 points from their Monday close and those tied to the broader S&P 500 slipped 4.50 points.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Get Report) shares were expected to be the session's star mover after the online media group smashed Wall Street estimates by adding more than 8 million new customers to its streaming service and pledged to spend billions more on content to keep them from switching to rival providers such as Amazon Inc. (AMZN - Get Report) and Walt Disney Co. (DIS - Get Report)
Netflix shares rose 8.83% in pre-market trading in New York Tuesday, indicating and opening bell price of $247.68, a record high that would extend the stock's three-month gain to just over 27.5%. The moves will also take its market capitalisation past $100 billion for the first time ever, taking it past rivals such as Time Warner Inc. (TWX - Get Report) and 21st Century Fox (FOX - Get Report) and ranking it just behind Action Alerts Plus holding Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Get Report) and Disney on the list of America's biggest media companies.
"Equities are unstoppable," said Saxo Bank strategist Peter Garnry, while his colleague, technical analyst Kim Cramer, suggested that with the bulls "still in control ... we will likely be close to 3,000 by the end of this month.
TheStreet
