Stock Futures Steady Amid Mixed Earnings

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U.S. stock-index futures floated in a tight range on Tuesday as traders mulled mixed corporate earnings and awaited data on the American economy.

Today's Markets

As of 8:38 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 7 points to 15409, S&P 500 futures dipped 1.5 points to 1676 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.8 points to 3075.

The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to eight days on Monday, and notched yet another record closing high during a fairly tepid trading day. Wall Street had a busy morning Tuesday, with several key earnings releases and economic reports due out.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) revealed second-quarter profits of $3.70 a share, whizzing by expectations of $2.82 a share. The investment-banking giant’s revenues of $8.61 billion also easily topped estimates of $7.98 billion.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) revealed adjusted second-quarter profits of 63 cents a share, matching expectations. However, sales of $12.79 billion came in shy of estimates of $12.96 billion. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) posted an adjusted second-quarter EPS of $1.48, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $1.39. Sales of $17.9 billion also topped views of $17.71 billion. The blue-chip health-care company also raised its full-year view to a range of $5.40 to $5.47 a share, compared to estimates of $5.41 a share.

On the economic front, the Labor Department said consumer prices heated up 0.5% in June from the month prior, a slightly larger gain the the 0.3% economists expected. Excluding the food and energy components, prices were up 0.2%, matching estimates. The Federal Reserve has a mandate to keep inflation and unemployment in check so the data have taken on even more significance in recent months.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve due out at 9:15 a.m. ET is expected to show U.S. industrial activity revving up by 0.2% in June on a month-to-month basis. Later, Wall Street will get a look at homebuilder sentiment from the National Association of Home Builders.

In commodities, oil climbed 68 cents, or 0.7%, to $107.01 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline edged up 0.47% to $3.118 a gallon. Gold gained $7.90, or 0.62%, to $1,292 a troy once.