Futures point to a mixed session
U.S. stocks were poised to start the week mixed as traders looked ahead to Q1 GDP data, a flurry of tech earnings, and a key Federal Reserve meeting later this week.
A two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), will kick off on Tuesday, amid growing worries over potential higher inflation.
At their March meeting, FOMC members voted unanimously to keep interest rates unchanged at near zero and continue to buys bonds at a rate of $120 billion a month to prop up economy.
By 5:20 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow indicated a gain of 25 points, or 0.08% higher to 33,969. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 37.25 points, or 0.27% while S&P 500 futures were flat.
Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla earnings on tap this week
This week also sees a barrage of major earnings reports including Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Vale (NYSE:VALE) which will report after the closing bell today.
Analysts expect Tesla to post first-quarter earnings of 78 cents per share on revenue of $10.24 billion. Vale is projected to report earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $13.14 billion.
Other key earnings to watch this week include Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Ford (NYSE: F), and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX).
Crude sinks as India Covid-19 cases surge
Crude futures tumbled early Monday as a devastating second wave of coronavirus in India threatened to hurt oil demand.
India reported a new global record for an increase in daily coronavirus cases for a fifth consecutive day, while the number of deaths rose by an all-time high over the last 24 hours.
The Biden administration over the weekend partially lifted a ban on the export of raw materials for vaccines and promised to supply India with personal protective gear, therapeutics, ventilators, and rapid diagnostic test kits.
By 5:20 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $1.09, or 1.75% to $61.05 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures lost $1.17, or 1.79% to $64.25 a barrel.