Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
U.S. stock futures flickered near the flatline Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average looked to build on its fourth positive day in a row, and investors turned to the latest batch of earnings.
Dow futures were up 70 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures ticked up by 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.1%.
Disney shares were flat after the media and entertainment giant posted better-than-expected quarterly figures. Its streaming business nearly broke even for the quarter.
Investors on Monday carried over the bullish market sentiment from Friday, when the latest nonfarm payrolls data showed that job growth came in below expectations in April and unemployment ticked higher. The results alleviated concerns that the economy was too hot and raised optimism around rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
To be sure, other conflicting economic data — such as an uptick in the employment cost index — means that there are still questions surrounding the actual trajectory of inflation, according to Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist, wealth management with U.S. Bank.
“I think the market is looking for a bit of a tiebreaker in terms of what’s happening with inflation,” said Haworth.
He added that he has become “a little more constructive” on his outlook due to ongoing economic strength. “Inflation is remaining persistent but not not accelerating to a problematic level. So we think there’s room to own risk assets here,” Haworth added.
