Stock Futures Creep Lower Even as Crude Oil Stabilizes
New York (June 21) Stock futures edged lower on Wednesday, June 21, even as crude oil prices stabilized after a steep selloff.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.18%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 0.04%, and Nasdaq futures declined 0.23%.
A painful day for crude oil extended beyond commodities markets on Tuesday, June 20, spilling over into equities and dragging major benchmark indexes from records. The S&P 500 and Dow pulled away from records set on Monday, June 19.
Crude oil prices entered into a bear market on Tuesday with West Texas Intermediate crude having fallen just more than 20% from a late February high. Crude plunged more than 2% on worries over global oversupply and ballooning production. The American Petroleum Institute reported a 2.7-million-barrel decline in domestic supplies in the week ended June 16, though gasoline and distillates stockpiles rose. Official data from the Energy Information Administration will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.07% to $43.48 a barrel early Wednesday.
The economic calendar in the U.S. on Wednesday includes existing home sales for May at 10 a.m.
Computer software company Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The San Jose-based company reported earnings of $1.02 a share on revenue of $1.77 billion., topping analysts' forecasts for earnings of 95 cents on revenue of $1.73 billion. Adobe said revenue from its digital media segment rose to $1.21 billion, with Creative revenue increasing to a record $1.01 billion.
"This truly was a beat across the board and we would expect Adobe to continue its momentous run as the company is the unmatched leader in the market for digital content creation." wrote Jim Cramer and the AAP team. Adobe is a holding in Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio.
FedEx Corp. (FDX) also beat quarterly earnings and sales estimates over its recent quarter. The package delivery company earned $3.75 a share over its fourth quarter, swinging from a loss of 26 cents a share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $4.25 a share roared past estimates of $3.87. Sales of $15.7 billion exceeded analysts' target of $15.6 billion.
Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber Technologies Inc., resigned as CEO of the ride-sharing company under pressure from investors and just days after he was asked to take a leave of absence in the wake of a report into allegations of discrimination and bullying at the startup. Venture capital firm Benchmark, whose partner Bill Gurley is one of Uber's largest shareholders and sits on its board, as well as investors First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures and Fidelity Investments, all pressed Kalanick to quit, according to a report from Reuters.
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Source: TheStreet
