Stock futures slip after Nasdaq’s rally as investors digest corporate earnings

Stock futures dipped on Wednesday evening as investors hoped to build on a strong start to the week amid a flurry of corporate earnings.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 76 points, or about 0.2%. S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped more than 0.3%.

The move in futures comes as Wall Street is enjoying a July rebound, with the three major averages hitting their highest levels in more than a month.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped nearly 1.6% on Wednesday, its fourth positive session in five. The tech-heavy index is up about 3.9% for the week.

Meanwhile, the Dow and S&P 500 each rose for the third day in four. The blue-chip index is up nearly 1.9% for the week, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.5% thus far.

“The bulls seem to be coming back into the market now. We’ve seen pretty sharp rallies in tech, crypto and other risk assets over the past few days,” said Callie Cox, U.S. investment analyst at eToro. “Which is notable to us, because in an economy with some pretty notable weakness in it, you’d expect to be seeing other parts of the market performing well. But the animal spirits are back, at least for now.”

In the early weeks of earnings season, corporate results have largely held up so far, helping calm fears about an impending recession.

However, the reports after the bell on Wednesday were mostly mixed. Shares of Alcoa and CSX jumped in extended trading after the companies beat expectations. Shares of Tesla were choppy after the automaker reported stronger-than-expected earnings but shrinking automotive gross margins.

United Airlines reported that it returned to profitability during the second quarter, but results came in below expectations. The stock fell more than 6% in extended trading.

In other corporate news, shares of Carnival were under pressure after the cruise company announced that it was selling an additional $1 billion of stock.

On Thursday, AT&T and American Airlines are two of several major companies set to report results before the opening bell. Investors will also be watching initial jobless claims data, which has been trending upward in recent weeks.