Wall St set for muted open as investors weigh earnings, data; Alphabet jumps
Alphabet leaps as AI investments boost cloud sales
Eli Lilly misses estimates for weight-loss, diabetes drugs
AMD falls, Reddit jumps after results
ADP jobs data beats, Q3 GDP advance numbers miss estimates
Futures: Dow down 0.20%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq flat
Updated at 8:51 a.m. ET/1251 GMT
By Lisa Pauline Mattackal
Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set for a subdued open on Wednesday, as investors assessed mixed corporate results and parsed crucial data that showed the economy had maintained a steady pace of third-quarter growth.
Shares of Alphabet GOOGL.O, the first of the five "Magnificent Seven" megacap stocks due to report results this week, leapt 6.1% in premarket trading after the company beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on strength in its cloud business and YouTube ad sales.
Semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O dropped 7.6% after its forecasts for fourth-quarter revenue and AI chip sales disappointed investors.
Other chipmakers also slipped, with Nvidia NVDA.O down 0.9% and Intel INTC.O losing 1%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite .IXIC closed at an all-time high on Tuesday.
The U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized rate, according to the Commerce Department's advance estimate of third-quarter GDP, slightly below economists' forecast of 3.0% growth.
"For the market, the stronger pace of GDP being paced by personal consumption doesn't really make the case for the Fed cutting at all," said Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at ADM Investor Services International.
The neck-and-neck race between U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was also at the top of investors' minds ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
"We may have some revisions when we go forward, but all that really matters is the election next week, because that could be quite pivotal in the direction that the U.S. takes above all," Ostwald said.
A separate report showed U.S. private payrolls growth surged by a higher-than-expected 233,000 jobs in October, despite fears of temporary disruptions from hurricanes and strikes.
Tuesday's data showed U.S. job openings dropped to more than a three-and-a-half-year low in September, leading traders to increase bets on a 25-basis-point rate cut in the Federal Reserve's November andDecember meetings. Economists polled by Reuters echoed the view.
Shares of some othermegacaps gained ground, with Microsoft MSFT.O and Meta Platforms META.O rising 1.8% each. Both companies are scheduled to report results after the bell.
Given the significant role they played in Wall Street's rally this year, megacaps will be the most closely watched in an earnings-packed week. Their results are expected to provide insight on whether heavy AI investment is translating into better company performances.
Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 88 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 0.75 points, or 0.01%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 6.75 points, or 0.03%.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N slumped 10.7% after missing sales estimates for its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs due to inventory changes.
Reddit RDDT.N soared 22.3% after reporting quarterly profit for the first time since going public, while Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG.N lost 2.7% after it missed expectations for same-store sales growth.
Alphabet's cloud revenue growth accelerates on AI boom https://reut.rs/4hpeEwE
The Magnificent Seven https://reut.rs/4hpeHIQ
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal, Sruthi Shankar and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
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