S&P 500 futures drift as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America earnings await
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 6 points or less 0.1% to 15,283
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 314 points, or 0.93%, to 33,985, the S&P 500 rose 46 points, or 1.06%, to 4,374, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 161 points, or 1.2%, to 13,568.
What moves the markets?
Hopes that the emerging third-quarter corporate earnings season would boost investor sentiment were helping S&P 500 futures hold on to the majority of the previous session’s 1.1% gain.
After results from JPMorgan Chase Citigroup and Wells Fargo were well received by traders on Friday, it was the turn of peers Goldman Sachs of America and BNY Mellon to release the numbers before the opening bell on Tuesday on Wall Street.
Johnson & Johnson and Lockheed Martin will also publish results in the morning, while Omnicom and Interactive Brokers will report after the closing bell.
“Investor sentiment is driven by hopes of a largely positive US earnings season that, so far, continues,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
About 10% of the S&P 500 is scheduled to rise this week, and the majority of those who have done so have already beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, according to Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
“In fact, since the season began in earnest on Friday, earnings estimates have generally been raised to a potential annual increase of 2.2% from the previous 1.3%,” Hunter added.
Meanwhile, news that US President Joe Biden will visit Israel and neighboring countries in the coming days has helped calm nerves that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will spark a larger conflagration in the region.
“The recent risk-off sentiment that has weighed on markets appears to be easing, in part due to intensified shuttle diplomacy by the White House and other regional players,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Although Ennis added: “However, this optimism comes before Israel launches its ground offensive in Gaza, and this development could quickly sour sentiment again.”
.A sign of easing geopolitical anxiety was a firmer appearance in havens as Brent crude fell to the Treasury toward $90 a barrel and gold’s recent rally stalled.
U.S. economic updates scheduled for Tuesday include September retail sales, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, September industrial production and capacity utilization at 9:15 a.m., followed by the Home Builders Confidence Index for business inventories for October and August at 9:15 a.m. ET. 10 am.
Among the Fed officials waiting to speak is John Williams, president of the New York Fed, speaking at the Economic Club of New York at 8 a.m. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin delivers comments on the economic outlook at 10:45 a.m.