Nasdaq Futures Jump After Tech Earnings
XOM's earnings reaction is pressuring the Dow, though
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are trading below fair value ahead of a busy day on Wall Street, pressured by a negative earnings reaction for big-cap oil stock Exxon Mobil (XOM). The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), on the other hand, are pointing to a strong open, as traders react to another batch of impressive tech earnings, with Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon (AMZN) all gaining ground this morning. Economic data is also on the radar, with investors eyeing a better-than-expected initial reading on gross domestic product (GDP) -- which showed 2.3% growth in the first three months of 2018 -- and a slightly higher-than-forecast 0.8% rise in the first-quarter employment cost index.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Analysts are upbeat toward this range-bound casino stock.Calls are cheap on this surging drug stock.Breaking down a winning Facebook options trade.Plus, Expedia stock explodes higher; Square looks to expand; and a popping oil stock. 
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.26 million call contracts traded on Thursday -- the most since Feb. 16 -- compared to 768,857 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.61, while the 21-day moving average dropped to 0.65.Online travel agent Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) reported a slimmer-than-expected first-quarter adjusted loss of 46 cents on $2.51 billion in revenue, also more than forecast. No fewer than five analysts raised their EXPE price targets, helping send the shares up 10.7% ahead of the bell. It's been a busy week for Jack Dorsey. While Twitter earnings were in focus mid-week, Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) is on the radar today after the payment processor said it is buying website builder Weebly in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $365 million. SQ stock is up 3% in electronic trading.Unlike its fellow blue-chip counterpart, shares of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) are up 1.8% in pre-market trading. CVX stock is getting a boost from the oil major's first-quarter profit beat and a price-target hike to $140 from $135 at Macquarie, which is helping overshadow a quarterly revenue miss.Consumer sentiment and the Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI) are due today, with earnings from Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), Dominion Energy (D), and Phillips 66 (PSX) also in focus. Looking ahead, all eyes will be on Apple earnings next week.
Asian Stocks React to Denuclearization Talks
Stocks in Asia finished higher, with optimism on the rise after North and South Korea's leaders held a historic meeting to discuss denuclearization and a formal end to the Korean War. South Korea's Kospi finished 0.7% higher, while Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.7%, after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its monetary policy unchanged. Improving sentiment over the inter-Korean summit offset lingering worries about the Chinese tech sector, with China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closing the day up 0.2%, and 0.9%, respectively.
European markets are modestly higher at midday, as softness in the euro and pound counters weak GDP data out of the U.K. and France. At last glance, Germany's DAX was up 0.8%, London's FTSE 100 had picked up 0.9%, and France's CAC 40 managed a 0.3% advance.