US STOCKS-Futures rise after better-than-expected earnings

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* Intel gains on report of Apple buying modem business
* Biogen rises on quarterly profit beat
* Hasbro gains on better-than-expected quarterly revenue
* Futures up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 0.27%, Nasdaq 0.37%

By Amy Caren Daniel
July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched higher
on Tuesday lifted by a batch of largely upbeat earnings reports
from companies including Coca-Cola and United Technologies, that
soothed concerns over the pace of economic growth.
Second-quarter earnings last week were mixed, but last 24
hours have seen investors react positively to a series of
releases, albeit often against expectations for profits, which
have been lowered due to this year's concerns over growth.
The overall profits of S&P companies are now estimated to
rise about 1%, according to Refinitiv IBES data, improving from
estimates of a small decline earlier.
Coca-Cola Co KO.N shares rose 2.2% after the fizzy drink
maker beat quarterly revenue for the ninth straight quarter and
raised its revenue forecast for the full year, boosted by demand
for its sparkling soft drinks and coffees. Industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp UTX.N >
gained 2.6% after raising its full-year profit and sales
outlook, helped by an increase in demand for aircraft parts and
spares. Expectations that the U.S. central bank would adopt a looser
monetary policy to counter the impact of a protracted U.S.-China
trade war have helped Wall Street's main indexes scale new
record levels. The S&P 500 index is now just 1% shy of its
all-time high.
"Earnings season in the U.S. in general seems to be fairly
bullish. There doesn't seem to be too many profit warnings and
the outlook at the moment for the second half don't seem to hint
at too many nasty surprises," said Russ Mould, investment
director at AJ Bell in London.
Among the investor favorite FAANG group of stocks — Facebook
Inc FB.O is scheduled to post results after the bell on
Wednesday, while Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Google-parent
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O will report on Thursday.
At 6:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 84 points, or
0.31%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 8 points, or 0.27% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 29 points, or 0.37%.
The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates
on Thursday by 10 basis points and the Federal Reserve, which
will meet a few days later, is widely expected to lower rates by
at least 25 basis points.
Among other stocks, drugmaker Biogen Inc BIIB.O gained
2.2% after it beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit and
lifted its 2019 adjusted earnings forecast. Hasbro Inc HAS.O rose 4.1% after the toymaker reported
better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by higher demand
for action toys. Intel Corp INTC.O gained 1.3% after a report that Apple
Inc AAPL.O is in advanced talks to buy its smartphone-modem
chip business. The iPhone maker's shares rose 0.3%.