S&P 500 futures are little changed as investors prepare for Big Tech earnings: Live updates

S&P 500 futures are little changed Tuesday morning as investors analyzed the latest corporate earnings with the Federal Reserve policy meeting on the horizon.

Futures connected to the broad index were flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.13%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 42 points, or 0.1%.

Cybersecurity stock F5 rallied around 9% on the back of a better-than-expected financial report, while electronics manufacturer Sanmina soared more than 18% after posting strong earnings per share and current-quarter guidance. On the other hand, home-appliances maker Whirlpool shed more than 4% after sharing a worse-than-expected outlook for the full year.

These moves follow a winning day on Wall Street that brought the Dow and S&P 500 to their sixth record closes of the year. Despite those notable finishes, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw the best performance of the three major indexes, climbing more than 1% in the session.

Monday marked the start of a busy week for corporate earnings, with 19% of companies in the S&P 500 set to report. Of the nearly one-quarter of S&P 500 members that have already reported, about 72% exceeded Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.

“There is not necessarily a very consistent message” this earnings season, said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “It’s not this tide that lifts all boats. … We’ve seen, this far in the earnings season, clear winners and clear losers.”

Markets appeared to rally late in Monday’s session after the U.S. Treasury Department said it expected to borrow less than previously anticipated in the first quarter. The department said this reduced need to borrow stemmed from anticipated increases in net fiscal flows and a higher cash balance at the start of the quarter.

Traders will watch for updates out of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting beginning Tuesday. The fed funds futures market has priced in an approximately 97% probability that the central bank will leave rates unchanged during its Wednesday announcement, according to the CME FedWatch tool. 

Elsewhere on Tuesday, investors will follow Microsoft and Alphabet, two of the mega-cap technology names set to report earnings this week. These companies, which are part of a group known as the “Magnificent 7,” have been closely watched by market participants after driving up the S&P 500 with their outsized gains. Amazon, Meta and Apple will post their quarterly financials later in the week.

Outside of tech, General Motors and UPS are among well-known companies sharing results before the bell on Tuesday. Starbucks is due after the market closes.

Investors will also watch Tuesday for economic data on housing, the labor market and consumer confidence. These numbers come as market participants finalize their expectations for Wednesday’s monetary policy announcement and subsequent press conference.