By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening lower Tuesday, the second day of losses after a series of record highs with investors set to digest earnings from big tech companies and consumer-oriented names.
At 7 AM ET (1200 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 125 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 Futures traded 16 points, or 0.4%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 50 points, or 0.4%.
The major indices closed lower on Wall Street on Monday, dragged down by overall weakness in the technology sector, but this followed another strong week last week, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at record highs on Friday.
After a broadly positive round of bank earnings last week, Tuesday sees the first of the so-called FAANG stocks report - the five technology megacaps that dominate the major indices.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is due to report after the closing bell, and investors will be looking to see if the streaming giant has continued to attract subscribers after they flocked to the company during the early months of the pandemic.
Other key earnings Tuesday include drugmaker Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which has had to delay vaccine shipments after questions were raised about blood clotting, consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and insurer Travelers (NYSE:TRV). All three beat consensus forecasts for earnings.
Elsewhere, tobacco stocks will remain in focus after slumping Monday on the back of a Wall Street Journal report that the Biden administration is considering capping nicotine levels in cigarettes.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will also stay in the spotlight after the company’s CEO Elon Musk said checks showed the Autopilot driver assistance system was not engaged in the fatal car crash over the weekend, a statement seemingly at odds with police information that neither of the two people who died in the crash was sitting in the driver's seat. The crash is the 28th Telsa accident to be investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates vehicle safety.
The economic data slate is largely empty Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury last traded around 1.60%, after falling as low as 1.53% last week.
Oil prices strengthened Tuesday, aided by continued optimism that the reopening of economies will stoke consumption and also boosted by a weaker U.S. dollar.
On the supply side, investors await inventories data from the American Petroleum Institute, due later in the day.
U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% higher at $63.59 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.4% to $67.31 after gaining 4.6% Wednesday. Both contracts are up more than 30% in 2021.
Elsewhere, gold futures traded 0.1% higher at $1,771.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2050.