Stock futures are pointing to a slightly lower open for major U.S. indexes on Tuesday as investors digest a slew of corporate earnings reports and await results from big technology companies later in the day.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while Nasdaq 100 futures were off 0.1%. On Monday, the major indexes closed higher, with the Dow snapping a five-session losing streak.
Shares of Dow component McDonald’s (MCD) were down more than 2% in premarket trading after the fast-food chain reported disappointing same store sales figures in an otherwise better-than-expected earnings report. Ford (F) shares were down 7% after the automaker reported profit that came in short of expectations and trimmed its full-year outlook.
VF Corp. (VFC), owner of The North Face, Vans and Timberland brands, was the big gainer ahead of the bell, rising nearly 20% after reporting its quarterly results.
Investors are awaiting earnings reports after the closing bell from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which kick off several days of earnings reports from tech giants including Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Intel (INTC).
Large-cap tech stocks were mixed but little changed ahead of the bell. AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) was down slightly, as were Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, while Alphabet and and Meta inched higher.
Several economic indicators are on the calendar Tuesday, including readings on retail inventories, job openings and home prices. The economic data calendar also picks up significantly in the coming days with quarterly GDP numbers, monthly inflation data and the October jobs report. Investors are watching all the data points closely as they look for signs that the economy remains on sound footing, as well as information that could influence the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decisions on interest rates.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated with expectations around interest rates, moved higher again on Tuesday morning. The yield, which has been rising as market participants have recalibrated their projections on how aggressive the Fed will be in cutting rates, was at 4.30% in recent trading, up from 4.28% yesterday.
Crude oil futures were up about 1%, after tumbling more than 5% on Monday as fears diminished that conflict in the Middle East could disrupt Iranian oil production.
Gold futures were up slightly at around $2,765 an ounce, once again approaching record highs, while bitcoin surged above $71,000 and was trading at its highest levels since early June.