U.S. markets are set to open higher, buoyed by somewhat better-than-expected earnings. Late Wednesday, IBM (NYSE: IBM) posted a higher profit and boosted its earnings target for the year. EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) also exceeded expectations, and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) offered guidance that was not as bad as feared.
Also yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke concluded his congressional testimony on the U.S. economic outlook without indicating when there might be a fresh round of quantitative easing.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) offered a disappointing second-quarter report this morning. Also scheduled to report are Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).
Data on weekly jobless claims, June durable-goods orders and June pending home sales are due out this morning.
Markets in Europe are higher today. U.K. stocks reached a two-week high on better-than-expect earnings from U.S. and European companies.
The FTSE 100 and CAC 40 were both up less than 1%, while the DAX was up about 1.2% to 6.770.
The German parliament is expected to approve the European Union’s bank aid package for Spain.
Spain saw demand weaken as it auctioned debt Thursday. The yield on the country’s 10-year government bond inched closer to 7%.
Asia stocks rose sharply Thursday as technology firms got a boost from U.S. corporate results. Shares of Chinese banks and insurance companies were strong performers as well.
The Nikkei 225 added 0.8%, while the Hang Seng was up 1.6% to 19,559.
The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)
The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.
But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.
Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.