Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 26, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
S&P 500 futures were near the flatline on Monday night after the major averages started the busy earnings week on a positive note. Investors are also waiting for the Federal Reserve’s rate decision, due later this week.
Futures tied to the broad-market index hovered below the flatline, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 177 points, or nearly 0.4%, weighed down by a nearly 9% decline in UnitedHealth shares.
In extended trading, shares of several big-name health insurers plunged after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed raising payments to Medicare Advantage insurers by a net average of just 0.09% in 2027. Shares of Humana slid 12%, while CVS Health lost almost 10%. News of CMS keeping rates relatively flat next year was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
President Donald Trump also said late Monday that he would raise tariffs on South Korean autos, pharmaceuticals and lumber from 15% to 25%. He cited a delay in South Korea’s legislature approving a trade deal the nation had reached with the U.S. last summer.
Stocks kicked off the week strong, aided by gains in major technology names. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% in Monday’s regular session, while the Dow gained about 314 points, or 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4% as Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft rose ahead of their earnings reports scheduled later this week.
More than 90 S&P 500 companies are slated to report quarterly earnings this week. They include “Magnificent Seven” giants Meta, Tesla and Microsoft — which are due Wednesday. Apple will share its results on Thursday.
Earnings season has been strong so far, with about three out of four S&P 500 companies beating expectations, per FactSet.
“Top of mind is earnings season. We got 200 companies reporting in the next two weeks and so far, so good,” said Adam Parker, founder and CEO of Trivariate Research. “I think the real issue is that the second half of the year estimates are way too high. And so the question is can we keep the momentum here through April guidance? I think yes.”
Looming this week is the Fed’s first policy decision of the year. The central bank is widely expected to keep its key rate at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, but traders will search for clues on when future cuts may come. Fed funds futures trading still suggests there could be two quarter percentage point cuts by the end of 2026, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
On the economic data front Tuesday, traders will be watching for the latest consumer confidence reading and home price data.
Companies set to report quarterly results on Tuesday include American Airlines and Boeing.
Shutdown odds are shortening, posing a risk to markets, Jeremy Siegel says
Threats by Democrats in Congress to oppose funding the government beyond Jan. 30 due to the action of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have raised the odds of a shutdown above 70%, according to Jeremy Siegel, WisdomTree senior economist and an Emeritus Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
That “should impede the upward movement in the market,” Siegel wrote in a newsletter Monday.
A second potential risk centers on White House trade policy. But even there, “Trump’s tariff rhetoric remains a background risk rather than a front-line macro threat,” said Siegel, famous for his 1994 book, “Stocks for the Long Run.”
Although he doesn’t expect it, Siegel said a prolonged move higher in Treasury yields could potentially prove another obstacle to stocks. “I would only grow concerned on implications for the equity markets if the 10-year were to move decisively above 5%, which could signal fiscal stress. We are not there,” the professor said. Instead, “leadership within the equity market is broadening. Small-cap stocks and value stocks are meaningfully outperforming in 2026, marking one of the strongest relative runs for value since the growth-led bull market began several years ago.”
— Scott Schnipper
Health insurers tumble after Trump administration proposes keeping Medicare Advantage rates flat in 2027
Shares of several big-name health care companies plunged after the Trump administration proposed nearly flat rates for Medicare Advantage insurers.
Medicare Advantage plan provider Humana dropped nearly 13% in after-hours trading, while CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group lost more than 9.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Elevance Health lost about 5.5%, while Centene and Molina Healthcare each fell about 3%
The proposal entails a net average payment increase of 0.09% for Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, according to a release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday. That number is significantly less than Wall Street analysts’ expectations that the agency would propose a rate increase of between 4% to 6% for next year.
The closely watched government payment rate determines how much insurers can charge for monthly premiums and plan benefits they offer, and ultimately, their profits. The Wall Street Journal first reported about the government’s rate proposal on Monday. Read more in CNBC here.
— Pia Singh, Annika Kim Constantino
