Monday's Close

E-mini S&P 500 Futures (June): Settled at 4179.50, up 8.00

E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures (June): Settled at 14,011.50, up 84.50 

U.S. benchmarks were little changed ahead of the bell, but the S&P set a fresh record high overnight. Today unfolds into tomorrow’s Federal Reserve policy decision with a deluge of earnings and a busy economic calendar. 

Tesla reported earnings yesterday and the stock was down about 2% premarket. Although the company beat expectations, the numbers were watered-down by regulatory credits and profit on Bitcoin. This morning, UPS crushed expectations and has gained 7%. Raytheon topped EPS estimates, but revenues fell short. Still, the stock has gained more than 1% on better guidance and an increased buyback plan. 

HSBC beat top and bottom estimates and the stock looks to set a tone for the Financial sector, up +3.5%. BP also beat earnings this morning and announced it’ll resume share buybacks; the stock is up 1.5% and looks to set a tone across the Energy sector. Eli Lilly missed both and GE fell short on revenues; they were down ahead of the open. 

All eyes are on Microsoft and Alphabet after the bell. Among others, Visa, Texas Instruments, and AMD also report this afternoon. (Disclosure: Blue Line Capital owns UPS, RTX, Microsoft, and Google)

The Federal Reserve begins their 2-day policy meeting today. Yesterday, we opened our discussion on the potential of signaling willingness to taper this year. Click here for yesterday’s post. Bill Baruch will be joining the TD Ameritrade Network at 1:30 p.m. CT today to discuss stocks and the picture heading into tomorrow’s Fed decision.

On today’s economic calendar, we looked to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index at 8:00 a.m. CT and Consumer Confidence at 9:00 a.m. CT, along with Richmond Fed Manufacturing. Dallas and Texas Services data followed at 9:30 a.m. CT. 

Yesterday’s 2- and 5-Year Note auctions, totaling $121 billion, saw overall average demand, but it’s today’s dreaded $62 billion of 7-Years that must be watched closely. In February, investors showed little demand for this intermediate-term debt, sparking a broader market selloff as yields surged to January 2020 levels, and the closely-watched 10-Year hit a high of 1.56%. March’s 7-Year auction showed little improvement.

Don’t miss our daily Midday Market Minute from yesterday.