By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening in a mixed fashion Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperforming after disappointing results from streaming giant Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) as the quarterly corporate earnings season hits full stride.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 75 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 3 points, or 0.1%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 22 points, or 0.2%.
The three main Wall Street benchmarks had their best day in over a month on Tuesday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining nearly 500 points.
However, this positive tone dimmed after Netflix announced late Tuesday that it lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter, the first time the streaming market leader reported a loss in subscribers in over a decade. It also forecast further losses in the second quarter.
Netflix stock plummeted 25% premarket, and the shares of fellow streaming companies like Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) and Warner Brothers Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), are likely to follow suit Wednesday.
Further results are due from consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) before the open, and electric car manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) after the market closes.
Elsewhere, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is scheduled to speak later in the session, and investors will be looking for further clues of future Federal Reserve policy.
A month ago, Evans had appeared on the dovish side of the rate-tightening debate, but on Tuesday, he stated that he's "comfortable" with a round of rate hikes this year that includes two 50 basis-point increases.
The U.S. central bank lifted interest rates by 25 basis points in March, the first increase since 2018 and is widely expected to hike by an uncharacteristically aggressive half-point next month after consumer prices soared 8.5%.
Turning to the economic data slate, investors will be looking toward existing homes data for March later Wednesday after housing starts unexpectedly rose last month.
Oil prices rebounded Wednesday from the previous session’s sharp losses, helped by data from the American Petroleum Institute showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories of just under 4.5 million barrels last week, pointing to healthy demand from the world’s largest consumer.
Investors now await crude oil supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due later in the day, for confirmation.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.9% higher at $103.00 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.9% to $108.19. Both benchmarks fell just over 5% on Tuesday.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,956.05/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.6% higher at 1.0851.