Stock Futures Rise as Investors Brace for Earnings and Fed Rate Decision

Investors want to see signs in earnings that growth remains strong, with artificial intelligence trends among tech companies such as Apple and Amazon.com also being key.

On the macro front, the Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates steady but the outlook outlined in Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference will be critical as investors continue to shift expectations over the pathway for borrowing costs.

U.S. stock futures rose on Monday as investors braced for a busy week for markets, with a wave of corporate earnings coming alongside major macroeconomic catalysts, including a monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 52 points, or 0.1%, after the index gained 153 points last Friday to finish at 38,239. S&P 500 futures jumped 0.2% with contracts tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 0.3%. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down to 4.64%.

Stocks enter a jam-packed stretch with investor sentiment on the front foot, after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq capped Friday with their best weekly performances since last November, helped by earnings out of Big Tech despite worries about inflation. This week will bring more of the same themes, with 174 companies in the S&P 500 reporting quarterly results alongside macroeconomic catalysts, including a Fed decision on Wednesday and the closely watched U.S. jobs report on Friday.

“With just two days left of a difficult April for markets, last week actually saw the best week for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ since November as earnings generally gave markets a boost even if the U.S. inflation data was net net worrying,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank. “The [Fed meeting] conclusion on Wednesday is the obvious highlight but we also have payrolls on Friday to look forward to.”

Investors want to see signs in earnings that growth remains strong, with artificial intelligence trends among tech companies like Apple and Amazon.com also being key.

On the macro front, the Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates steady but the outlook outlined in Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference will be critical as investors continue to shift expectations over the pathway for borrowing costs. Friday’s jobs report will finish this busy week, with traders set to scrutinize what dynamics in the labor market mean for U.S. economic growth and the inflationary backdrop—and thus the Fed’s pace on rates.