U.S. Stocks Set To Open Lower As Tech Stocks Slide After Earnings Reports

Big Tech Stocks Are Losing Ground In Premarket Trading

S&P 500 futures are losing ground in premarket trading as leading tech stocks are under pressure after the release of third-quarter earnings reports.

Shares of Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon are losing ground in premarket trading, while shares of Alphabet are gaining more than 6% due to healthy growth of Google’s ad sales.

Elevated expectations are the biggest problem for tech stocks right now. For example, Apple shares are up by 57% year-to-date while Amazon stock gained almost 74% since the beginning of the year.

In this situation, it is not enough to simply beat analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue – the market wants to see a path for robust growth in the future. That said, it remains to be see whether the current premarket sell-off will  turn into a serious multi-day pressure on tech stocks as many traders are waiting for a pullback to initiate their positions in market leaders.

Oil Fails To Rebound As Coronavirus Continues To Surge

Oil remains under pressure after yesterday’s sell-off as traders evaluate risks of additional lockdowns. Yesterday, U.S. recorded more than 91,000 new cases of the disease, so coronavirus will likely get back to the headlines right after the U.S. presidential election.

Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil reported its third-quarter results, missing analyst estimates on revenue and beating them on earnings. Chevron also beat earnings estimates but failed to live up to revenue expectations.

This trading session is set to be chalelnging for oil majors as their revenues were hit hard by the pandemic while oil is trading near the $36 level amid virus fears.

Personal Spending Increased By 1.4% In September

U.S. has just provided Personal Income and Personal Spending reports. Personal Income increased by 0.9% month-over-month in September compared to analyst estimates which called for growth of 0.4%. Personal Spending grew by 1.4% compared to analyst consensus of 1%.

Both reports were better than expected and can provide some support to stocks during today’s trading session. The strength of Personal Spending is especially welcome as it shows that consumers remained confident in September.

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