On Monday night, Asian stock markets were mostly down and U.S. stock futures were in the red. This followed the S&P 500’s good couple of days supported by two consecutive winning days. Futures have fallen as investors anxiously await fresh economic indicators. They’re increasingly optimistic ahead of earnings reports which may set the tone for overall market sentiment in the days ahead.
In Monday’s regular trading session, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 312.08 points, or 0.78%. The S&P 500 closed up 0.79%, and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.64%. These positive trends were mostly attributable to the hot tech sector, whose strength in this moment of continuing economic turmoil has been nothing short of remarkable.
Unfortunately, this dynamic momentum failed to translate into the futures market. S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%, while futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 lost a comparable amount. Dow futures were down about 0.3%, which would mean about a 103-point drop after the fact around 6 p.m. ET.
Investors are particularly focused on the upcoming New York Federal Reserve’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey, as well as the latest readings on March’s import and export price indexes, which will be released on Tuesday. Now these reports should tell us a whole lot more about the state of the economy.
Before that, investors were fixated on the impending first quarter earnings reports. They are most interested in the different results that they’ve achieved at the sector level. Brenda Vingiello, chief investment officer of Sand Hill Global Advisors, talked about the “wild card” of earnings season adding to such uncertainty.
“I think when it comes to earnings season, we’re just going to hear a lot of uncertainty with regard to some companies.” – Brenda Vingiello
Vingiello too was doubtful about how much clarity this earnings season will yield.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of answers after this earning season other than that Q1 was probably pretty good.” – Brenda Vingiello
In good news, the Trump administration just made exemptions from “reciprocal” tariffs on electronic products. This decision, which extends to smartphones, computers, and semiconductors, further complicates the current market landscape. This new step will undeniably have far reaching impact on tech companies’ responsibility, battery tech startups, and will likely shape investor sentiment in the future.
As the week progresses, market participants will continue to assess both economic data and corporate earnings as they seek to navigate the current financial landscape.