MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Edge Up, Erasing Early Losses

By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

McDonald's, Coca-Cola climb premarket after results

U.S. stock index futures inched higher Wednesday as investors zoomed in on quarterly figures from three Dow components, including adjusted profit from McDonald's Corp. that beat forecasts, as well as an economic report on the housing market.

Futures for Dow Jones Industrial Average (YMM5) were last up 41 points, or 0.2%, to 17,920, bouncing back from early losses, while those for the S&P 500 (ESM5) gained 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,095. Futures for the Nasdaq Composite (NQM5) tacked on 12.25 points, or 0.3%, to 4,440.75.

Investors are keyed into corporate earnings as a guide to the health of the U.S. economy amid one of the busiest weeks for companies to roll out quarterly results. Ahead of the bell, Dow components McDonald's (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO) and Boeing (BA) all posted better-than-expected earnings.

Stock-index futures were seeing "consolidation ahead of more earnings results," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com. "The S&P 500 has been touching this bearish trend line around 2,110...so the market is just waiting to see how the rest of the U.S. earnings will be like before deciding to push higher."

More big names will report after the close of trading, including Facebook Inc. (FB) and eBay Inc. (EBAY).

On Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-climb-ahead-of-trio-of-dow-earnings-2015-04-21), the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), fell 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively. But gains for biotech stocks helped pushed the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) up 0.4% to 5,014.10.

Wednesday's key economic reports: At 10 a.m. Eastern, the National Association of Realtors will release figures on sales of existing homes in March, with economists polled by MarketWatch expecting a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.08 million.

Individual movers: McDonald's gained premarket after its adjusted quarterly profit topped expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mcdonalds-reports-steeper-profit-fall-2015-04-22), and as the fast-food giant embarks on a turnaround.

Coca-Cola posted better-than-expected profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cokes-results-top-expectations-2015-04-22-74854226) and revenue in the first quarter, helping send its shares up ahead of the bell. Boeing'sfirst-quarter earnings also beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boeing-profit-beats-estimates-sales-fall-short-2015-04-22), with results boosted by buoyed by strong commercial-jet demand, but shares dipped.

Angie's List (ANGI) shares jumped as much as 18% premarket after the company, which operates a website that allows users to review local businesses, said it swung to a profit in the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/angies-lists-stock-jumps-after-company-swings-to-surprise-profit-2015-04-22).

After the bell, Facebook(FB) is expected to report first-quarter earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-expect-from-facebooks-earnings-2015-04-21) of 41 cents a share, and eBay(EBAY) is likely to say first-quarter earnings were 70 cents a share.

Read more about Wednesday's jumpiest stocks in the Movers & Shakers column (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-mcdonalds-coca-cola-in-focus-wednesday-2015-04-22)

Other markets: Japan's Nikkei stock index closed above 20,000 (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) for the first time in 15 years, and Hong Kong-listed stocks finished higher. European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), meanwhile, were pulling back.

Oil (CLM5) was little changed, remaining above $56 a barrel. Gold futures (GCK5) fell, while the ICE dollar index (DXY) was roughly flat.

Sara Sjolin in London contributed to this article.

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