US stocks seen starting flat start as coronavirus stimulus package optimism waxes and wanes, corporate earnings flow

US stocks looked set for a fairly flat start on Wednesday as although Washington is seemingly moving closer to agreeing a coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus package not everyone is convinced, and investors have a big batch of corporate news to digest including numbers from BioGen, Abbot Labs and Verizon. After good gains on Tuesday, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up just 5 points to 28,187, while S&P 500 futures added less than 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.2%. The White House and Democrats in Congress reportedly edged closer to agreement on the new coronavirus relief package after President Trump said he was willing to accept a large aid bill despite opposition from his own Republican Party. With just two weeks until the US presidential election, Trump signalled a willingness to go along with more than $2.2 trillion in new COVID-19 relief, a figure Democrats have been pushing for months. In response, US Treasury yields hit a four-month high while the dollar hit a one-month low as optimism over a pre-election stimulus package bought riskier currencies into favour. However, underlying the potential for the US Senate to dash investors’ hopes for more stimulus, a senior Senate Republican aide told Reuters that majority leader Mitch McConnell has privately told his fellow Republicans that he did not favour a deal before the November 3 elections. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe commented: “There's been an incredible confidence in these markets that a deal will be reached in both cases and the downside risks just don't seem to be being factored in. Perhaps Mitch McConnell's recent warnings to the White House about making a deal before the election are weighing a little today, with the Senate being the main barrier to an agreement. “Of course, the White House may be confident it can get the votes in the Senate to get a deal over the line and Trump may be willing to ignore the warnings of McConnell if he thinks it could get him a second term. The real fight may not be between the White House and House Democrats after all, rather the President and Senate Republican's as the election looms.” Six things to watch on Wednesday: Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will report third-quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday, with analysts keep to see whether controversial chief executive Elon Musk can achieve the company's ambitious year-end goal. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) reported its weakest subscriber growth in four years in results released after-New York hours on Tuesday as streaming competition increased, coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions eased and live sports returned to television, adding 2.2 million paid subscribers globally during the quarter that ended September 30, below the consensus target for 3.4 million and its own forecast. Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) shares surged in after-hours trade in New York after the group beat analyst expectations for the third quarter as daily active users of its Snapchat app continued to rise and demand was strong for its video filters and streamed content. By the end of September Snapchat’s daily active users were up 4% on the second quarter and 18% higher than a year ago to 249mln. Eli Lilly and Co said late on Tuesday it had hired an independent consultant to review a plant producing its promising coronavirus (COVID-19) drug after receiving notices from the US health regulator although it reiterated that it had not received a warning letter from the US Food and Drugs Administration following inspections at the plant. Pioneer Natural Resources Co said late on Tuesday it would buy smaller rival Parsley Energy Inc in a deal valued at about $4.5 billion in the latest consolidation among US oil shale producers. Spain's Iberdrola announced a takeover deal worth $8.3 billion including debt which adds PNM Resources (NYSE:PNM) to its Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) business to create the third-largest US renewable energy operator.