Disney’s Earnings Report Boosts Stock Market

U.S. Stocks Set To Open Higher Ahead Of The Weekend

S&P 500 futures are gaining ground in premarket trading as traders look ready to buy stocks after yesterday’s sell-off.

There is no clear catalyst for today’s optimism, although earnings reports from Disney and Cisco may be providing some support to the market.

The recent coronavirus numbers were ugly as the U.S. and Europe continued to experience a rapid increase in the number of new cases. Yesterday’s Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports were better than analysts expected but remained at high levels.

The economic situation remains challenging while a new coronavirus aid package is unlikely to be implemented anytime soon as Democrats and Republicans maintain their previous positions regarding the size of the aid bill.

WTI oil, which is sensitive to physical demand, is falling for the third day in a row as traders are worried about coronavirus surge in the U.S., so energy-related stocks are set to continue their pullback. However, the general market is set to open higher despite the current challenges.

Disney Beats Analyst Estimates On Strong Subscriber Growth

Disney reported revenue of $14.71 billion and GAAP loss of $0.39 per share, beating estimates on both earnings and revenue.

The situation remained challenging in the company’s park and film segments but subscriptions to Disney Plus grew faster than the analysts expected.

Disney has once again decided not to pay a dividend as the company’s bottom line was hit hard by coronavirus. However, investors decided to focus on the rapid growth of Disney Plus, and Disney’s shares are up more than 3% in premarket trading.

Producer Prices Grew By 0.3% Month-Over-Month In October

The U.S. has just provided Producer Price Index reports for October. On a month-over-month basis, Producer Prices increased by 0.3% compared to analyst consensus which called for growth of 0.2%. Year-over-year, Producer Prices increased by 0.5%.

Meanwhile, Core PPI increased by 0.1% month-over-month compared to analyst consensus of 0.2%. PPI reports followed yesterday’s inflation data which was weaker than expected and confirmed that pricing pressure was not increasing in the U.S. economy.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.