Stock futures flat
U.S. stock futures were little changed early Tuesday morning, a day after all three major indices closed in the green territory.
Traders are awaiting U.S. retail sales data for July, which will be published on Wednesday. Expectations are for the data to show that retail sales remained under pressure last month as consumer prices remained elevated.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also scheduled to release its FOMC minutes on Wednesday.
These minutes could provide more clarity about what Fed policymakers plan to do in the coming months after hiking interest rates by 75 basis points in July.
Dow futures, S&P 500 futures, and Nasdaq 100 futures were all flat as of 5 a.m. ET.
Walmart, Home Depot earnings on deck
Dow components Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) will announce their quarterly financial results ahead of the opening bell today.
Walmart’s earnings report comes several weeks after the retail giant warned shareholders that it expects profits for the second half of 2022 to drop due to elevated inflation.
The Arkansas-based company is expected to post second-quarter earnings of $1.63 per share and overall revenue of $150.93 billion.
Home Depot is seen reporting earnings of $4.94 per share on revenue of $43.36 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF buys shares in Microsoft, Alphabet, and Zoom
In other news, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has built positions in a string of U.S. stocks including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Zoom Video Communications (ZM), and JPMorgan (JPM), according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
According to the filing, the sovereign wealth fund bought 1.8 million shares in Microsoft, and 4.7 million class A shares in Zoom, and 213,000 class A shares in Alphabet at the end of the second quarter.
The fund also bought 3.9 million shares in JPMorgan and 741,693 shares in BlackRock (BLK).
