U.S. GDP ahead, Tesla warns of "lower" sales growth - what's moving markets
Investing.com — U.S. stock futures are muted, with traders looking ahead to crucial economic figures and gauging a stream of company earnings. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) warns that sales growth will be «notably lower» this year, while Chief Executive Elon Musk details plans to roll out a new, cheaper model in 2025. Elsewhere, Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares dip premarket after the U.S. aviation regulator bans the planemaker from expanding production of its best-selling MAX family of jets.
1. Futures subdued with data, earnings in focus
U.S. stock futures hovered broadly around the flatline on Thursday, as investors awaited the release of key economic data and gauged a bevy of quarterly corporate results (see below).
By 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT), the S&P 500 futures contract had added 5 points or 0.1%, Nasdaq 100 futures were mostly unchanged, and Dow futures had inched up by 104 points or 0.3%.
The benchmark S&P 500 extended a recent rally on Wednesday, increasing by 0.1% to its fourth straight record close. Boosting the index were shares in Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which surged after the streaming giant reported subscriber growth that smashed Wall Street expectations.
Solid results from Dutch chipmaking equipment manufacturer ASML (AS:ASML) also fueled an uptick in semiconductor stocks, providing some lift to the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dipped by about 0.3%.
2. U.S. GDP ahead
Traders will likely be paying close attention to the release of the key first reading of U.S. growth data for the fourth quarter, which could be an indicator of the health of the world's largest economy.
Economists are predicting that real gross domestic product (GDP) in the U.S. grew at a 2.0% annual rate in
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