Stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher open on Tuesday, putting major indexes on track to hit new record highs, as investors digest a slew of quarterly results from major companies.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were recently up 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%. The benchmark S&P 500 has closed at a record high in each of the last six sessions, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has hit new highs on 10 of the last 11 days.
Market sentiment has been boosted recently by generally strong corporate results and economic data. Meanwhile, the U.S. has reached agreements with several leading trading partners that have alleviated some of the concerns that investors had about the potential impact of tariffs on economic growth and corporate profits.
The calendar is jam-packed this week with earnings reports, notably from major technology companies, as well as closely watched government reports on economic growth, inflation and the labor market in the coming days. Investors will be particularly focused on the Federal Reserve, which is scheduled Tuesday to begin its two-day meeting on interest rates.
Among the noteworthy post-earnings movers this morning, aircraft manufacturer Boeing (BA) gained 1.5% and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) rose 1%, while insurer UnitedHealth (UNH) and package delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS) each dropped 3%, and drugmaker Merck (MRK) slid more than 4%
Shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) tumbled 20% after the maker of weight loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy issued a disappointing outlook and named a new CEO.
Mega-cap tech stocks were mixed in premarket trading. Chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) each tacked on about 1%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) edged higher. Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) each fell slightly. Microsoft and Meta are due to report earnings after the closing bell tomorrow, while Apple and Amazon are scheduled to release their results late Thursday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.4% at 99.02, trading at its highest levels since early June. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.38%, down from 4.42% at yesterday’s close.
Bitcoin was at $118,800 this morning, little changed from Thursday afternoon. The digital currency isn’t far from its record high of $123,000 amid investor optimism about support for cryptocurrency at the White House and in Congress, while a growing number of companies build their bitcoin holdings.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 0.7% at $67.15 per barrel, adding to the previous session’s big gains, while gold futures rose 0.3% to $3,320 an ounce after four straight days of declines.