S&P 500 futures rise, helped by Nike and FedEx earnings

Stock futures were slightly higher early on Wednesday morning.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 125 points, or 0.38%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.29%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.32%.

Investors were digesting earnings from Nike and FedEx that sent both companies higher in after-hours trading.

Nike shares added 12% after the apparel maker beat Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings and revenue. Meanwhile, FedEx gained 3% as the package delivery giant beat consensus estimates on per-share earnings. The company fell short of expectations for revenue, however.

During the regular session, the Dow rose more than 92 points, or nearly 0.3%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite eked out a slight gain of 0.01%. All three of the major indexes snapped a four-day losing streak, putting a little wind back into hopes for an end-of-year rally.

The modest gains came even after the Bank of Japan moved to widen its cap on the 10-year Japanese government bond yield, leading to a spike in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield higher that initially rattled traders.

“Let’s focus on the positive… From a fundamental perspective, the market took a pretty good punch and stood on its feet,” Virtus Investment Partners’ Joe Terranova said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” Tuesday.

There’s a “tremendous amount of resiliency” in the market, he added, saying that should be investors’ focus going into 2023.

Investors await another batch of data due Wednesday morning, beginning with the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly measurement of nationwide home loan applications. Traders will also get updates on existing home sales and consumer confidence data.

There are a few more big names left to report earnings before the Christmas holiday. RiteAid and Cintas will report before the bell Wednesday. Micron will report after the bell.