Futures point to a negative start
U.S. stock futures fell early Tuesday, implying stocks will open the regular session with losses, after staging a surprise rebound on Monday following the S&P 500’s dive into correction territory earlier in the day.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday’s session up 99.13 points, or about 0.3% to 34,364.50, its first gain in a week. The S&P 500 jumped 0.3% to finish at 4,410.13 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6% to end 13,855.13.
At around 5:20 a.m. ET, futures tied to the Dow were marked 11 points lower to $34,242.
S&P 500 futures dropped 21.75 points, or 0.49% to 4,382 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 133.75 points, or 0.92% to 14,367.25.
Fed policy meeting kicks off
Meanwhile, market participants will be watching as the Federal Reserve begins its monetary policy meeting of the new year. The meeting concludes on Wednesday, with Chairman Jerome Powell expected to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Wall Street will be eyeing the Fed’s views on three key areas, including interest rates, the scaling back of its bond-buying program, and a reduction of its balance sheet.
Although economists widely expect monetary policy to remain unchanged, the meeting could offer some key insight into how aggressive the central bank intends to tighten policy throughout this year.
Policymakers are expected to say they are prepared to raise its key benchmark interest rate from zero as soon as March.
Microsoft, JNJ, 3M, GE earnings on tap
The earnings season will continue today, with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and 3M (NYSE: MMM).
Analysts expect Johnson & Johnson earnings of $2.12 per share on revenue of $25.29 billion ahead of the market open.
Microsoft is seen reporting earnings of $2.31 per share on revenue $50.88 billion after the closing bell.
3M is likely to report earnings of $2.01 per share on revenue of 8.59 billion before the opening bell.
Other notable earnings to watch include Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
