By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures traded slightly lower in early APAC deals on Thursday, as major benchmark indices closed near record highs during the regular session, as investor sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected earnings reports and a new record high for bitcoin.
In Wednesday’s trade, the Dow gained 152.03 points or 0.43% to 35,609.35, touching an all-time high of 35,669.69 earlier in the session. The S&P 500 added 16.56 points, or 0.3%, to 4,536.19 and was less than 0.2% from its own record, while the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.05% to 15,121.68.
Dow futures were 0.12% lower, S&P futures fell 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 Futures lost 0.21%.
Among stocks, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) was one of the biggest gainers in the Dow, jumping 2.4% after earnings topped estimates for the third quarter. Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) also edged lower during regular trade despite beating estimates on earnings and revenue. In extended deals, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) dipped 4.03% following a revenue miss while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) lost 1.24% even after posting record earnings and revenue.
Meantime, Bitcoin soared to a fresh record high of US$66,093 amid strong risk appetite as positive regulatory developments and the first bitcoin-linked ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSE:BITO), began trading on Tuesday. in addition, Paul Tudor Jones’ comments on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” also boosted sentiment as he named bitcoin as his preferred inflation hedge over gold.
On the bond markets United States 10-Year rates were at 5-month highs of 1.66%.