CORRECTED-US STOCKS-Wall St set for muted open, focus on business activity data
(Corrects to say the U.S. central bank is meeting next month, not next week, in paragraph 7)
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Procter & Gamble gains on upbeat sales forecast
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Tesla set to gain after slumping a day earlier
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SQM, Albemarle fall as Chile to nationalize lithium industry
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Futures: Dow up 0.06%, S&P off 0.02%, Nasdaq slips 0.19%
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a subdued open on Friday as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings reports, while awaiting more data for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates and the economy.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday after disappointing quarterly reports from Tesla Inc and AT&T Inc worsened an already downbeat mood in markets following weak economic data that fueled concerns of a U.S. recession.
Procter & Gamble Co gained 2.4% in premarket trading after the consumer company raised its full-year sales forecast on higher pricing.
HCA Healthcare Inc advanced 5.4% after the hospital operator lifted 2023 results forecast on improvement in staffing that has allowed it to conduct more surgeries.
"Investors are okay with earnings so far because the lack of bad news is good news," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments. "The market is waiting to see if we can get some bullish earnings over the next few weeks from some of the big cap tech stocks."
Investors are focused on S&P Global's flash purchasing managers' indexes (PMI) at 9:45 a.m. ET (1345 GMT) that are expected to show the momentum in U.S. business activity cooled further in April.
A slate of Fed speakers this week voiced support for another 25-basis-point rate hike by the U.S. central bank when it meets next month. Traders have priced in an 82% chance of such a move, with many expecting them to hold before cutting rates by the end of 2023.
Fed Board Governor Lisa Cook is set to take the stage on Friday before the central bank's policymakers enter a blackout period until the next policy meeting.
U.S. stocks indexes have been rangebound this week with investors seeking clues on how far the Fed could hike interest rates, while earnings have signaled resilience in big banks though most regional lenders reported deposit outflows in the wake of a banking crisis last month.
U.S. Treasury yields slipped, extending Thursday's declines after data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week and a measure of future economic activity plunged to the lowest level in nearly 2-1/2 years in March.
At 8:38 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 20 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.75 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 24.75 points, or 0.19%.
Tesla Inc edged up 0.7% after raising the U.S. prices for its Model S and X premium electric vehicles, although they are still 20% lower from the start of the year following a slew of price cuts aimed at stoking demand.
Cathie Wood's asset management firm Ark Invest picked up stake in the electric-vehicle maker following the stock's near 10% slide on Thursday after the company's first-quarter gross margins missed estimates.
U.S.-listed shares of Chilean lithium miner SQM tumbled 5.9% after Chile's president, Gabriel Boric, said he would nationalize the country's lithium industry, transferring control of its vast operations from industry giants to a separate state-owned company.
Albemarle Corp dropped 2.9%, while Lithium Americas Corp slipped 0.5%. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
