U.S. stock futures weakened Tuesday, handing back some of the previous session’s strong gains as investors awaited the release of a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
By 06:30 ET (10:30 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 180 points, or 0.5%, S&P 500 Futures traded 23 points, or 0.5%, lower and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 80 points, or 0.5%.
The benchmark Wall Street indices started the new week on a positive note Monday, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping more than 400 points, or 1.2%, its next day since mid-June. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% and the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.9%, both breaking a four-session losing streak.
Eli Lilly, UPS dominate earnings
The quarterly corporate earnings season is coming to an end, with roughly 85% of S&P 500 stocks having reported results to date. These have tended to be positive, as about 85% of them have beaten Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.
Still, there are a number of significant companies still due to report, with investors keen to receive any updates from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) around the regulatory approval process for its treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, while the logistics firm United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) posted an 11% slump in second-quarter revenue as the logistics firm was hit by weaker U.S. packaging demand.
Elsewhere, big data firm Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) lifted its revenue target thanks to increasing demand for its artificial intelligence service, while educational tech company Chegg’s (NYSE:CHGG) quarterly sales beat estimates as concerns eased that ChatGPT would eat into its customer growth.
Additionally, the banking sector will be in the spotlight after Moody’s cut the ratings of 10 smaller banks by one notch and placed six banking giants, including Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), State Street (NYSE:STT) and Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC), on review for potential downgrades.
Fed speakers eyed ahead of inflation data
The economic data slate is quiet Tuesday, and thus the focus will likely be on comments by Philadelphia Fed President Harker and Richmond Fed President Barkin, which will be closely watched for cues about the U.S. central bank’s future rate path ahead of Thursday’s release of the latest U.S. consumer inflation data.
Crude retreats after weak Chinese data
Oil prices fell Tuesday, weighed by the weak Chinese trade numbers ahead of the latest U.S. stockpile figures.
Oil imports to China, the world’s largest oil importer and second-largest consumer, in July were down 18.8% from imports in June though up 17% from a low base a year ago.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, is scheduled to release its estimate of U.S. crude inventories later in the session, and is expected to show another drawdown after last week’s hefty fall.
By 06:30 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 1.7% lower at $80.54 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 1.8% to $83.81.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,966.60/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.4% lower at 1.0962.
(Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)
