U.S. stock index futures and equities stabilized on Tuesday, consolidating after a rally in technology stocks moved to all-time highs on Wall Street last session ahead of some major company data.
The major indexes posted solid gains on Monday, supported by strong gains in major technology vlores, with market favorite Nvidia (NVDA) rising to an all-time high, coming close to replacing iPhone maker Apple (AAOL) as the world’s most valuable company.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to an all-time high, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to an all-time high above 43,000 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.9% again, close to the all-time highs achieved earlier in the year.
In addition to technology gains, stock markets were also boosted by continued bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month.
Q3 earnings in the spotlight
Investors’ attention is now focused on the third quarter earnings season, which kicks off in earnest on Tuesday.
Financial giants Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) will report their results on Tuesday, as will Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), United Airlines (UAL), Unitedhealth (UNH) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).
Morgan Stanley (MS) rounds out bank earnings on Wednesday, while Netflix (NFLX), Blackstone (BX) and American Express (AXP) will release results later in the week.
Investors will be watching to see if company earnings persevere despite the backdrop of pressure from high interest rates and sticky inflation.
This week, aside from earnings, attention will focus on retail sales data, as well as speeches from a number of Federal Reserve officials, looking for more signals on the economy along with interest rates.
Oil prices fall on demand fears
Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, adding to their recent losses on concerns about slowing demand growth, particularly from top exporter China.
These fears were compounded by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cutting its crude oil demand expectations for the third successive month.
Oil prices were also influenced by the risk premium that traders discounted on Monday’s news that Israel will not attack Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities. Such an attack would escalate the conflict and alarm investors about a supply disruption from the oil-rich region.
