Wall Street set for lacklustre start as tech stocks weigh

Wall Street is heading for a fall at the opening bell, according to the futures market, led by big tech stocks. The Nasdaq composite index is pitched to tumble over 1%, following the Amazon.com results last night that have are being described as “disappointing” even though revenues were up 24% to an eye-popping US$113bn and profits swelled by a third to US$7.7bn, but both growth measures were slower than the previous quarter a bit short of analyst expectations. “Whether this is the start of a late summer pullback or just a bit of profit taking following an eventful week isn't clear at this stage,” says market analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda. “It's been a funny old week of incredible earnings, downbeat outlooks for the current quarter, mixed data and a cautious Fed. “The buzz around the second quarter is fading and it may well be affecting investor sentiment. “It seems most of the big tech companies that have been reliably growing at an extraordinary rate for numerous quarters are all facing issues in the coming quarters either related to supply chains, advertising, sales growth or a combination of these. It's far from a doom a gloom story but things may become a little more challenging than they have been.” With this slight disappointment mixed in mixed guidance for the third quarter and surges in the delta variant that could result in further dampening of recovery in the new quarter and further supply bottlenecks, Erlam acknowledged “there may well be a case for these markets to come off a little”, though nothing more than “a small corrective move”. As the analysts said, there's still plenty more earnings reports to come before the season is over, with around a quarter of the S&P 500 due to report next week, along with some big macro data. Amazon shares are trending for a 7% decline in pre-market trading, while other predicted fallers include Robinhood Markets Inc, which endured a disheartening 8% decline on its first day yesterday and is pencilled in for another, smaller, fall today. Walt Disney Co is also expected to begin in the red with Scarlett Johansson, the star of its new Marvel epic Black Widow, reported to have sued the studio for breach of contract. Exxon Mobil Corporation, on the other hand, is expected to spurt higher after unveiling its highest second-quarter profit since late 2019 with earnings per share of US$1.10 versus a Street consensus of US$1.01. Three things to watch for on Friday: The earnings diary for the end of the week is expected to see results from Chevron Corp as well as consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co and construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc Shares in Robinhood may be in focus as the stock trading platform begins its second day of trading following its lacklustre debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday On the macro front, traders will be eyeing US personal spending and income figures as well as consumer sentiment readings and the latest Chicago PMI