By Noreen Burke
Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday as investors awaited high profile earnings from some big tech names which should give insight into the health of the economy.
At 06:54 ET (10:54 GMT), the Dow futures contract was down 130 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures traded 13 points, or 0.3%, lower, and Nasdaq 100 futures edged down 0.1%.
The main U.S. indices rose broadly on Monday after data showing that U.S. business activity contracted for a fourth straight month raised hopes that the effects of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes aimed at cooling the economy are beginning to take hold, which in turn raised hopes that the central bank could begin slowing the pace of the hikes.
Third quarter earnings season is due to ramp up this week with a slew of heavy-hitting tech and industrial companies reporting.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are both due to report on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on Wednesday. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will wrap up the FAANGs on Thursday.
Google-owner Alphabet will be under the spotlight amid worries about the impact of inflation on its advertising revenue growth after Snapchat owner Snap (NYSE:SNAP), the first major social media company to release its quarterly earnings, warned that it would see no revenue growth in the normally busy holiday quarter.
Microsoft is expected to post its slowest quarterly revenue growth in over five years, amid some concerns over its outlook amid PC market slowdowns and a strong dollar.
Major industrials are also expected to report earnings this week, including Boeing (NYSE:BA), Ford (NYSE:F), 3M (NYSE:MMM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM).
Investors will be keen to see how these corporate bellwethers are performing against a backdrop of soaring inflation and the Fed’s aggressive rate hike path.
Shares in United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) were higher in premarket trade after the logistics giant reported a rise in third quarter adjusted profit as higher delivery prices offset softening e-commerce demand.
Shares in General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell after it reported a 19% drop in adjusted quarterly profit amid struggles with company-wide supply chain issues, inflationary pressures, and weakness in its renewable energy business.
Economic data due later in the day includes the CB consumer confidence report for October and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index, while Fed governor Christopher Waller is also to speak.
--Reuters contributed to this report