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(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Tuesday following a slate of positive earnings reports from companies including IBM and Coca-Cola, and on hopes for domestic stimulus to prop up an economy reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coca-Cola Co (N:KO) rose 2.2% premarket as it said demand for its sodas were improving after the “most challenging” quarter for the year.
International Business Machines Corp (N:IBM) jumped 5.3% after it signaled higher demand in its cloud computing business, as large corporations accelerate their digital shift.
“If this economic recovery slowly continues, tech stocks will probably continue to be one of the leaders. Technology is up to the altar and they need to justify so much of this strength and earnings,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
With the second quarter expected to see the worst of the pandemic’s hit on earnings, investors are more focused on hints on how long corporate America would take to bounce back.
The S&P 500 closed higher for the year and the Nasdaq notched a record closing high on Monday after promising early data from trials of three potential vaccines and a boost from high-flying companies including Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN) and Microsoft Corp (O:MSFT).
Advisers to President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats were set to discuss the next steps in responding to the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday, with congressional Republicans saying they were working on a $1 trillion relief bill.
Overnight, European Union leaders agreed on a massive coronavirus relief program.
Meanwhile, new infections raged in Florida on Monday, while California saw improvement, with cases and hospitalizations beginning to stabilize after a surge. Trump also said he would resume holding regular COVID-19 news briefings on Tuesday.
At 8:19 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 191 points, or 0.72%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 25.75 points, or 0.79% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 91 points, or 0.83%.
Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT) rose 3.7% as the U.S. weapons supplier raised its full-year profit and revenue forecasts driven by higher quarterly sales in its aeronautics unit that makes the F-35 fighter jet.
Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp (N:XOM) and Chevron Corp (N:CVX) rose 1.8% and 2.0%, respectively, on prospects of higher fuel demand.
