Wall St set for higher open after strong bank earnings, chip stocks rally

By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Wednesday after solid results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, while chipmakers climbed as ASML reported strong quarterly results. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley added 3.8% and 4.1%, respectively, premarket after the top lenders beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on dealmaking strength. Bank of America also raised the low end of its interest income forecast range. "We've seen really good results from the big banks that have reported thus far, some impressive beats there, so I would expect that we'd see positive sentiment and a good market reaction," said Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a CNBC event that the wave of investment into the U.S. economy is sustainable and is only getting started. A day earlier, lenders including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase reported solid performance in investment banking and predicted that the business would continue to boom. Analysts expect third-quarter earnings growth to be 9.2% year-on-year, slightly higher than the previously forecast 8.8%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data from Tuesday. Shares of U.S. chipmakers rose after ASML reported third-quarter orders and operating income above market expectations. U.S.-listed shares of ASML were up 4.4%. Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices gained 2.6% each, while Intel and Nvidia added 1.7% and 2.6% respectively. At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 235 points, or 0.51%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 49 points, or 0.73%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 242 points, or 0.98%. A slate of Fed officials including governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller, Atlanta President Raphael Bostic and Kansas City boss Jeffrey Schmid are set to speak later in the day. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell  left the door open to rate cuts on Tuesday by saying the U.S. labor market remained mired in low-hiring, low-firing doldrums. Fed's Beige Book of economic condition, due at 2:00 p.m. ET, is also on radar. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Washington was considering cutting some trade ties with China, including in relation to cooking oil. That came after the two countries began imposing tit-for-tat port fees, adding to concerns about the China-U.S. trade war. Among other stocks, Abbott declined 2.9% after its quarterly revenue fell short of analysts' expectations. BlackRock and a group backed by Nvidia will acquire Aligned Data Centers in a deal worth $40 billion, the companies said. Shares of BlackRock were up 1.1%. U.S.-listed shares of gold miners gained as bullion prices surged past $4,200 an ounce for the first time. Newmont rose 1.8%. (Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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