Wall Street Lower as the Busiest Week of Earnings Season Continues

U.S. stock index futures are indicating a slightly lower opening on Tuesday as investors prepare for a slew of fresh earnings reports from several major corporations.

The busiest week of earnings season continues on Tuesday with 3M, McDonald’s, Pfizer, JetBlue and Raytheon Technologies all set to report before the opening bell.

Visa, Advanced Micro Devices, Amgen, eBay, Mondelez International and Starbucks report after the bell on Tuesday.

Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc were among the top boosters of the S&P 500 ahead of their quarterly reports due out this week.

Dow futures pointed to an opening loss of more than 50 points, while S&P 500 futures were little changed. NASDAQ-100 futures traded slightly higher.

After the bell on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the Republican coronavirus relief plan. The legislation would include relief for jobless Americans, another direct payment to individuals of up to $1,200, more Paycheck Protection Program small business loan funds, among other provisions. McConnell said the bill would set federal unemployment insurance at 70% of a worker’s previous wages, replacing the $600 per week which states stopped paying out this week.

Republicans and Democrats will now debate the issues with the hope of finding common ground by Friday when the previous stimulus bill provisions are set to expire.

Monday Recap

Wall Street’s main indexes were higher on Monday as investors monitored progress in government stimulus efforts along with rising U.S. COVID-19 cases and restrictions around the world.

In the cash market on Monday, the benchmark S&P 500 Index settled at 3239.41, up 23.78 or +0.79%. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26584.77, up 114.88 or +0.46% and the technology-driven NASDAQ Composite finished at 10536.27, up 173.09 or +1.82%.

The technology sector, up more than 1%, was the biggest percentage gainer among the S&P’s 11 major sectors while materials was next, boosted by shares of gold miners. Financials, utilities and energy were the only sectors in the red.

Investors maintained their focus on earnings, with 189 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report results this week. About 80% of the 130 S&P 500 firms that have reported so far have beaten a low bar of earnings estimates, according to IBES Refinitiv data.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.