Stock futures were little changed early Tuesday morning as traders navigated one of the busiest weeks of corporate earnings season.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched 2 points, or 0.01%, lower. Those for the S&P 500 slipped by 0.04%. Nasdaq 100 futures were lower by 0.04%.
The move in futures comes after aslightly down day for stockson Monday. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite each dipped 0.1%, while the S&P 500 inched lower by 0.02%.
The major indexes have been grinding lower as the first-quarter earnings season heats up.
Johnson & Johnsonreported mixed quarterly resultson Tuesday, with its earnings per share topping earnings expectations while revenue missed analyst estimates. The pharmaceutical company also lowered its earnings guidance for 2022. Its shares dipped slightly in premarket trading.
Hasbro shares fell nearly 2% premarket after the toy company posted a weaker-than-expected profit for the previous quarter, while its revenue was in line with estimates.
Travelers Companies was slightly higher in early trading after the company beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its latest quarter and announced a 5.7% dividend increase.
Lockheed Martin shares lost more than 2% premarket after the security and aerospace company reported an earnings beat and a revenue miss for the most recent quarter.
Netflix and IBM are scheduled to post their numbers after the bell Tuesday.
With inflation and the Federal Reserve’s next steps a key debate in markets, investors are watching for insight into how supply chains and consumer demand are performing for major companies.
“Profit margins are expected to remain elevated; however, inflation is expected to trim margins from the all-time highs seen in 2021. Only the energy and utility sectors are reflecting a year-to-date uptick in margin growth expectations,” Keith Lerner, co-CIO of Truist Advisory Services, said in a note to clients.
Expectations for Fed hikes have risen sharply in recent months, though the central bank has said it will be data dependent in deciding how it will hike rates throughout the year.
“Can the Fed raising rates actually solve some of the shortages we have with labor, with semiconductors, with wheat? Probably not. So maybe they’re going to act a little bit less aggressively in the end than some people think,” said Adam Parker of Trivariate Research on “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
The concern about the Fed’s next steps have caused high volatility in the bond market as well, which appears to have weighed on stocks in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in three years, reaching 2.91%.
St. Louis Fed president James Bullard told CNBC’s Steve Liesman on Monday that “quite a bit has been priced in” in terms of Fed actions.
On the data front, housing starts and building permits in March came in above expectations, according to estimates from Dow Jones.
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