* Brexit deal yet to receive British parliament approval
* Netflix jumps on adding more subscribers
* Morgan Stanley wraps up bank earnings with profit beat
* IBM falls on quarterly revenue miss
* Futures up: Dow 0.24%, S&P 500 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.38%
(Adds market action, comments and background)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were on pace to open higher
on Thursday, after Britain struck a preliminary last-minute deal
with the European Union easing some geopolitical jitters, while
upbeat earnings from Netflix and Morgan Stanley affirmed a
strong start to the reporting season.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "we have a great
new Brexit deal," lifting the mood across global equities, while
he is yet to receive approval for the agreement in a vote at a
session of the British parliament on Saturday. "Although, the agreement reached between the U.K. and EU
needs to be approved by the British parliament, the headline
news coupled with U.S. earnings should boost market sentiment,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in a client note.
Netflix Inc NFLX.O shares jumped 8% in premarket trading,
after the video streaming service provider added slightly more
paying subscribers than Wall Street expected in the third
quarter. Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 3.6% after the big lender beat
analysts' expectations for quarterly profit, buoyed by higher
revenue from bond trading and M&A advisory fees.
This followed upbeat results earlier in the week from major
U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N ,
Bank of America BAC.N and healthcare giants Johnson & Johnson
JNJ.N and UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N .
"So far so good. Definitely the bank earnings have been
terrific, relative to expectations," said Paul Nolte, portfolio
manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
Also supporting sentiment was the Chinese Commerce Ministry
saying it hoped to reach a phased agreement in a protracted
trade dispute with the United States and cancel tariffs as soon
as possible. Rising uncertainties around the U.S.-China trade war,
increasing geopolitical risks and weak domestic economic
indicators have recently hit sentiment, with investors now
focusing on third-quarter earnings for clarity on these factors
impacting Corporate America.
Analysts are expecting S&P 500 third-quarter earnings to
fall by 3%, which would mark the first year-on-year contraction
since the earnings recession that ended in 2016.
However, of the 43 S&P 500 companies to have posted
quarterly results so far, 86% have beaten expectations.
At 8:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 64 points, or
0.24%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 8.25 points, or 0.28% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 30.5 points, or 0.38%.
Among other stocks, International Business Machines Corp
IBM.N slipped 6% after it missed quarterly revenue estimates
due to weakness in its global technology services unit.
Investors also targeted industrial earnings, which have
been a mixed bag so far.
CSX Corp CSX.O shares rose 2.5% after the railroad
operator beat quarterly profit expectations, while peer Union
Pacific Corp UNP.N fell 2.8% on missing earning estimates.
Honeywell International Inc HON.N cut its full-year sales
forecast, as its customers limited spending amid a slowing
global economy. Shares of the diversified manufacturer inched
0.3% higher.