U.S. stock futures were a touch firmer but struggling for traction on Tuesday as investor fears of an economic downturn – following reports of slowing spending at Apple – continued to constrain risk appetite.
How are stock-index futures trading
-
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.42%
inched up 8 points, or 0.2%, to 3842 -
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.28%
rose 54 points, or 0.2%, to 31101 -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
+0.43%
gained just 15 points, or 0.1%, to 11922
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
fell 216 points, or 0.69%, to 31073, the S&P 500
SPX,
declined 32 points, or 0.84%, to 3831, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
dropped 92 points, or 0.81%, to 11360. The S&P 500 has fallen six of the last seven sessions and has shed 19.6% year-to-date.
What’s driving markets
Another equity bear market rally has been hobbled after a report, suggesting that Apple
AAPL,
was slowing hiring and spending, revived concerns that higher borrowing costs and rampant inflation is damping corporate confidence while crimping growth.
The fears are reflected in the U.S. bond market, too. As the Federal Reserve has tightened policy, investors have pushed 2-year yields
TMUBMUSD02Y,
above 10-year yields
TMUBMUSD10Y,
an inversion that is deemed a harbinger of recession.
The Apple news highlighted a dispiriting trend, noted Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank: “Elon Musk recently announced he would cut 10% of jobs in Tesla, because he has a bad feeling about the economy. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Snap and even Goldman announced they would need less people to work for them as businesses would slow.”
The reversal in Monday’s session left the S&P 500 below its 50-day moving average for the 60th consecutive day. That’s its longest such run since 2008 and suggests the market’s downtrend remains intact.
Underpinning sentiment, however, is a mostly positive second-quarter earnings season, where 57% of those companies to have reported so far have beaten earnings per share and revenue expectations, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Pre-market trading suggests IBM
IBM,
results were not well-received, however. The tech company beat expectations, but worries about how a strong dollar may impact future earnings pushed the stock lower by 4.8% $131.50.
Earnings coming on Tuesday include Lockheed Martin
LMT,
J&J
JNJ,
and after the closing bell, Netflix
NFLX,
More housing data — building permits and housing starts, both for June — are set for release at 8.30 a.m. Eastern.
How are other assets faring
-
U.S. crude futures
CL.1,
-0.74%
rose 0.5% to $103.09 a barrel, as news that Russia’s Gazprom had claimed force majeure on some buyers highlighted tensions in the energy space.
-
The ICE Dollar index
DXY,
-0.66%
fell 0.6% to 106.71, as the euro
EURUSD,
+0.88%
jumped on reports the European Central Bank was considering a 50 basis point rate hike on Thursday.
-
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
+1.82%
advanced 1% to $21729.
-
Asia markets were mixed following Wall Street’s overnight reversal. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI,
-0.89%
fell 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
+0.04%
was flat. Japan returned from a day off to play catch-up, the Nikkei 225
NIK,
+0.65%
adding 0.65%. In Europe, the Stoxx 600
SXXP,
-0.43%
fell 0.7%.
-
Growth concerns pushed copper futures
HG00,
-1.42%
down 1.3% to $3.025 a pound.
