This post was originally published on this site
https://i-invdn-com.akamaized.net/news/LYNXNPEB8R0JA_M.jpg
Investing.com – U.S. stocks are seen edging higher Tuesday, with investors cautious ahead of a flood of corporate earnings.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 91 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 6 points, or 0.2%, higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 12 points, or 0.1%.
The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.7% higher, at record highs Monday, the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, also a record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, or 37 points, though it had been down more than 300 points intraday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index has closed higher in its last five sessions, its best run since early November. It’s likely to be in focus Tuesday, with software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reporting after the close. Results from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will follow on Wednesday.
Aside from Microsoft, largely positive results have emerged from the likes of General Electric (NYSE:GE), 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) before the opening bell.
The market is also prepped for more action in heavily shorted stocks, including GameStop (NYSE:GME), Blackberry (TSX:BB) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), after Monday’s sharp gains on the back of retail investors betting against short-selling hedge funds.
Janet Yellen was confirmed Monday by the U.S. Senate as the country’s Treasury Secretary and the first woman to hold the job. She will now have to try and sell President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan that appears to have run into resistance from Republican lawmakers.
There was some good news regarding the pandemic Monday, as California, one of the disease’s hot spots, eased strict stay-at-home orders. This comes as the United States as a whole has seen declines in newly reported cases and hospital admissions over the past two weeks.
The first meeting of the Federal Reserve under the Biden administration gets underway later Tuesday, and is set to conclude on Wednesday. The central bank is not expected to make any policy changes, and is likely to reiterate that its policy stance remains very accommodative.
Economic data of note Tuesday include January consumer confidence and November housing data, as well as regional surveys from the Richmond Fed and Dallas Fed.
Oil prices edged higher Tuesday, with focus on the U.S. inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, due later in the session.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% higher at $52.94 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.2% to $55.78.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,854.60/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2144.
