S&P 500 futures hover close to report forward of pivotal week of tech earnings

Friday marked the fifth report shut this 12 months for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with the S&P 500 ending solely a tenth beneath its all-time excessive.

What’s driving markets

It’s an enormous week for earnings with outcomes due out of Microsoft
MSFT,
-0.23%,
Apple
AAPL,
-0.90%,
Alphabet
GOOGL,
+0.21%,
Amazon
AMZN,
+0.87%
and Meta Platforms
META,
+0.24%,
in every week that additionally features a Fed interest-rate choice, jobs market knowledge and the Treasury’s quarterly refunding.

“For a data dependent Fed, and one that still needs to reclaim its inflation fighting credibility, the likely response will be to continue to guide away from a March rate cut, but also remind us the Fed will be willing to act if need be—i.e., retain optionality,” mentioned Richard de Chazal, a macro analyst at William Blair. “We should also expect to get a little more flesh on the bone with regard to the timing of the [quantitative tightening] tapering program.”

De Chazal added that earnings to this point haven’t been too spectacular — earnings for the 124 S&P 500 firms which have reported to this point are up 2.3% vs. expectations of a 1.2% improve, which is beneath the common hole of 4.4 share factors.

There’s additionally geopolitical worries after an assault killed three U.S. troopers and injured 34 extra in Jordan. Oil futures
CL00,
+0.06%
had been buying and selling underneath $78 a barrel, whereas gold
GC00,
+0.45%
rose and the yield on the 10-year Treasury
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
fell. Yields transfer in the other way to costs.