US OPEN: Nasdaq gains ahead of Alphabet earnings

• US futures point to a green open on Wall Street

• Nasdaq (US100) bounces off the 9000 pts mark

• Alphabet (GOOGL.US) to release earnings after session closes

Super Bowl hangover

Super Bowl, probably the biggest sports event in the United States, took place yesterday. Kansas City Chiefs won a national championship by defeating San Francisco 49ers. However, the event has a side-effect that harms the US economy every year. As the event takes place on Sundays, a lot of US workers decide to take a day-off the following Monday. It is estimated that over 17 million US workers have already decided to skip a day at work while another 8 million is expected to decide once they wake up today. Combined labour disruptions will cost the US economy around $1 billion. The trend suggests that the situation gets worse every year with a growing number of absentees.

In spite of significant declines on the Chinese stock exchanges, US equities are set to echo the performance of their European peers. US stock market futures point to a higher open with S&P 500 opening near the 3240 pts handle. No major earnings reports were released over the weekend and investors await release from Alphabet today after the session closes.

Nasdaq (US100) bounced on Thursday but managed to completely erase this drop by the end of Friday’s session. However, declines were halted at the 9000 pts handle and a slight recovery can be spotted today. The near-term resistance zone to watch ranges between recent swing levels of 9150-9180 pts. However, one should keep in mind that should the bears regain control, the index is likely to look towards 9000 pts mark once again. Source: xStation5

While usually there are no interesting earnings releases scheduled for Mondays, today is different as Alphabet (GOOGL.US) will publish a quarterly report after the session closes. This will be the first quarterly release since Sundar Pichai took over as company’s CEO. Market expects revenue of $38.39 billion (-2.3% YoY) and EPS of $12.49 (+18.2% YoY). Ad revenue will be among things to watch after Facebook reported slower growth due to new legal regulations in Europe and California. Apart from that, cloud revenue will be on watch after both Amazon and Microsoft reported solid results of the segment.

Delta Air Lines (DAL.US), American Airlines (AAL.US) and United Airlines (UAL.US) will be on watch today after new restrictions on travel to and from China were imposed. 

American Airlines (AAL.US) has been trading in a downward move since the beginning of 2018. The company pulled back from the price zone ranging around the $27.00 handle on Friday and may remain under pressure today due to new flight restrictions. Should such a scenario materialize, the two nearest levels to watch are $25.35 and $24.50. Source: xStation5

Sysco Corporation (SYY.US) reported Q4 earnings ahead of the opening bell. Earnings turned out to be better than expected. EPS of $0.85 was higher than expected $0.84, marking a growth of 13.3% YoY. Revenue of $15 billion was slightly weaker than the expected $15.08 billion, but still 1.8% higher than year ago. Revenue in the US foodservice operations segment increased 3.2% YoY to $10.4 billion,  while international foodservice operations segment generated revenue of $2.9 billion (flat YoY). The stock is set to open slightly higher today.

Apple (AAPL.US) decided to close all stores and corporate offices in mainland China. The reason behind this decision is the coronavirus outbreak. Closures are set to last until February 9.

Sysco Corporation (SYY.US) is set to open slightly higher today after releasing solid Q4 earnings. The stock has been trading lower recently, but upbeat earnings may help it jump above the short-term downward trendline. Such a development could encourage bulls to retest the all-time high at around $86. Source: xStation5