US stock futures settled near record highs early Tuesday ahead of crucial earnings from market darling Microsoft.
How to trade stock index futures
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S&P 500 futures ES00,
-0.10%
It fell 5 points, or 0.1%, to 4949. -
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures YM00,
-0.12%
It fell 48 points, or 0.1%, to 38,440 -
Nasdaq 100 Futures NQ00,
-0.06%
It fell 12 points, or 0.1%, to 17,694
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224 points, or 0.59%, to 38,333, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 37 points, or 0.76%, to 4,928, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 173 points, or 1.12%, to 15,628.
What drives the markets?
The fourth-quarter 2023 corporate earnings season in the United States kicks into full gear on Tuesday, with many investors recognizing that the recent surge in stocks to new highs leaves little room for disappointment.
The S&P 500 on Monday hit its sixth record of 2024, bringing its rise in just the past three months to 17.5%. The benchmark index rose thanks to big gains by big technology, especially those companies that investors believe will benefit from sales of technology related to artificial intelligence, whether hardware, such as chip maker Nvidia NVDA, or
Or programs like Microsoft MSFT,
This combo has pushed Microsoft's market value past $3 trillion, after a 65% rise in the past 12 months, and raised its price-to-earnings ratio over the next 12 months to 33.4, according to FactSet, a significantly richer multiple. From recent years. .
Stock bulls will want to see that Microsoft's results and forecasts, scheduled for release after Tuesday's closing bell, justify the market's optimism, especially since it has the largest weighting in the S&P 500, which currently stands at 7.3%. Options pricing suggests Microsoft shares could move plus or minus about 2.5% by the end of the week, according to MarketWatch calculations.
Four more so-called Magnificent 7 stocks – Alphabet GOOG,
Tuesday, Apple AAPL,
amazon amzn,
And dead dead,
Thursday – Earnings will also be published in the next few days.
“Prices reaction to 5 of the “Mag 7” reports..[is] “This is critical to the overall market direction,” said Julien Emanuel, strategist at Evercore ISI.
Other companies to announce results on Tuesday include Pfizer PFE,
general Motors GM,
ups ups,
And HCA Healthcare HCA,
Before the opening bell rang on Wall Street, followed after the closing by Advanced Micro Devices AMD,
starbucks SBUX,
electronic arts ea,
Juniper Networks GNPR,
Helping to boost sentiment on Tuesday was a drop in Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year benchmark BX:TMUBMUSD10Y fell toward the 4% mark after the Treasury said Monday it would need to borrow less in the first quarter than the market feared.
The Fed will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, although it is not expected to change interest rates this month.
US economic updates scheduled for Tuesday include the S&P Case-Shiller home price index for November, which is scheduled for release at 9 a.m. ET, followed at 10 a.m. by the December jobs report and January consumer confidence.
