Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 27, 2026.
NYSE
S&P 500 futures were near the flatline Tuesday night ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and earnings reports from major tech companies.
Futures linked to the broad market index were up less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced about 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 15 points, or less than 0.1%.
In Tuesday’s regular trading, the S&P 500 advanced 0.4%, reaching an all-time high and closing at a record. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%. The 30-stock Dow fell more than 400 points, weighed lower by a nearly 20% plunge in UnitedHealth.
Wednesday will bring the Fed’s first rate decision of the year. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, but traders will be seeking hints on longer-term changes to monetary policy. Fed funds futures trading suggests two quarter percentage point cuts by the end of 2026, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
“The current U.S. economic outlook remains positive, with ongoing growth and a labor market that, although somewhat soft, has stabilized. Inflation continues to run above the Fed’s target, leaving little justification for immediate rate cuts,” said Christian Hantel, portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management.
“Instead, investors should look to the March and June FOMC meetings as potential opportunities for policy adjustments, though these could be pushed into the second half of 2026 if conditions warrant,” Hantel added. “All eyes will be on Chair [Jerome] Powell for any signals about the Fed’s openness to further easing, but for now, the central bank’s cautious, meeting-by-meeting approach seems set to continue.”
Earnings from a slate of major technology companies are on deck. Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla are set to post their quarterly financial results Wednesday after the closing bell. Apple will post its results on Thursday.
Dollar suffers worst one-day slide since last April
The U.S. dollar fell 1.3% on Tuesday, the most since last April, after President Donald Trump declined to say that the currency had fallen too much.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Iowa to promote his economic record, Trump was asked if he was comfortable with the current value of the greenback and if he thought it had fallen too much after sliding 10% over the past year.
“I think it’s great,” Trump said of the weaker dollar. “I mean the value of the dollar, look at the business we’re doing. No, [the] dollar is doing great. You know it’s very interesting, if you look at China or Japan, I used to fight like hell with them because they always wanted to devalue their yen … you know that, the yen and yuan, and they’d always want to devalue it. They devalue, devalue, devalue. And I said, ‘not fair.’ They devalue, because it’s hard to compete when they devalue.”
On Tuesday, the dollar also dropped to its lowest level since February 2022. Read the full story here.
— Scott Schnipper
Texas Instruments and Seagate Technology among stocks moving in after-hours trading
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.
- Texas Instruments — The chipmaker jumped more than 9% after issuing better-than-expected guidance for the first quarter. Texas Instruments now sees earnings per share of between $1.22 and $1.48, and revenue between $4.32 billion and $4.68 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.26 per share on $4.42 billion in revenue in the quarter, according to LSEG. Texas Instruments missed Wall Street’s fourth-quarter estimates for both earnings and revenue.
- Seagate Technology — The storage infrastructure stock slipped nearly 2% after Tuesday’s close despite posting strong fiscal second-quarter results. Seagate earned $3.11 per share after adjustments on revenue of $2.83 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected the company to earn $2.81 per share on revenue of $2.73 billion. Seagate had soared 30% in the past month before the latest earnings.
- Qorvo — The chipmaker plunged about 9% after giving disappointing earnings guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter. Qorvo beat earnings per share estimates in its third quarter, earning an adjusted $2.17 per share, above the $1.85 estimated by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue of $993 million narrowly topped the Street’s expected $988 million.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
