By William Watts, MarketWatch

Stock-index futures pointed to a slightly higher start for Wall Street Wednesday as investors offered a muted reaction to data showed China's economic growth stabilized, leaving the focus to a continued stream of corporate results.

What are major indexes doing?

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22 points, or 0.1%, to 26,469, while S&P 500 futures rose 5.35 points, or 0.2%, to 2,916.75. Nasdaq-100 were up 21.75 points at 7,701.25, a gain of 0.3%.

Stocks are looking to build on modest gains that saw the Dow end 67.89 points higher Tuesday at 26,452.66, up 0.3%, while the S&P 500 fended off late-session selling to eke out a rise of 1.48 points, or 0.1%, to 2,907.06. The Nasdaq Composite rose 24.21 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 8,000.23.

The S&P 500 ended just 0.8% away from its all-time closing high of 2,930.75 set on Sept. 20, while the Dow and Nasdaq each stand around 1.4% away from their record closes set last year.

Read:Stock market at ' risk of a melt-up, not a meltdown,' warns BlackRock's Larry Fink (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackrocks-fink-says-stock-market-at-risk-of-a-melt-up-not-a-meltdown-2019-04-16)

What's driving the market?

Chinese government data showed the country's economy grew at a 6.4% annualized rate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-economy-grew-64-in-q1-beating-expectations-2019-04-16) in the first quarter of 2019, maintaining the pace seen in the last quarter of 2018 as factory output picked up steam. The figure was slightly higher than many economists expected.

The data failed to provide much spark to European markets, but analysts said signs of stability could soothe investor worries about the world's second-largest economy. Stock-market gains since the end of last year have been tied in part to expectations stimulus efforts by Chinese authorities and a potential deal to end the U.S.-China trade battle would limit the scope of the country's slowdown and alleviate fears of a global economic crunch.

Meanwhile, investors continue to wade through corporate results as first-quarter earnings season moves into full swing.

What stocks are in focus?

Shares of Netflix Inc. (NFLX) were off 1.1% in premarket trade after the streaming-entertainment company said it attracted a record 9.6 million new subscribers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-reports-record-subscriber-gains-but-forecast-hurts-stock-2019-04-16) in the first quarter, but disappointed investors with its forecast for second-quarter profit and new subscribers.

Read:Netflix is burning money and lacks a good business model, this tech investor says (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflix-is-burning-money-and-lacks-a-good-business-model-this-tech-investor-says-2019-04-16)

Shares of Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) were up more than 5% in premarket trade after soaring more than 20% on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomm-stock-surges-as-apple-agrees-to-settlement-2019-04-16) after the chip maker and Apple Inc.(AAPL) settled patent litigation against each other.

Opinion:Qualcomm gets big windfall in surprise settlement, but Apple may have saved the iPhone from 5G doom (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomm-gets-big-windfall-in-surprise-settlement-but-apple-may-have-saved-the-iphone-from-5g-doom-2019-04-16)

Following the settlement, chip maker Intel Corp.(INTC) said it would get out of the business for 5G modem chips (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-drops-out-of-5g-modem-business-after-apple-qualcomm-settlement-2019-04-16) in which it was trying to compete with Qualcomm. Intel shares were up 3.7% in premarket action.

Shares of PepsiCo Inc.(PEP) were up 2.1% in premarket trade after the beverage and snack giant Wednesday morning reported first-quarter profit and revenue that topped Wall Street expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pepsicos-stock-surges-toward-record-high-after-profit-revenue-rise-above-expectations-2019-04-17).

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2019 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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