By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures advanced on Tuesday as some growth and chip stocks gained, while positive earnings across several sectors got the ball rolling ahead of big tech earning later in the week.
Most megacap growth stocks, including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), edged up between 0.5% and 1.3% in premarket trading. The tech majors are scheduled to report their quarterly numbers this week, with Tesla kicking off the cycle after markets close on Tuesday.
Early gains in some chip stocks also offered support to equities, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) Technology up between 1.0% and 1.4%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was an outlier, down 0.2%, as market data showed its smartphone shipments tumbled 19% in China in the first quarter.
On the earnings front, General Motors (NYSE:GM) advanced 3.4% after the automaker posted quarterly results above Wall Street targets and raised its annual forecast.
Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) gained 6.6% after the Swedish music streaming company beat quarterly revenue estimates.
GE Aerospace rose 3.7% after the aerospace giant raised its full-year profit forecast.
United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) added 1% after the parcel delivery company reported first-quarter profit above estimates.
Danaher (NYSE:DHR) jumped 8.8% after the life sciences firm beat quarterly profit and sales expectations.
U.S. equities sold off sharply last week amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and as traders re-evaluated their rate-cut expectations from the Federal Reserve.
“While further volatility can be expected, especially with ongoing attacks in the Middle East, we think a gradually improving risk-reward outlook for U.S. stocks continues to support our focuses on finding opportunities within and beyond technology,” Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note.
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The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index reading for March, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, is due on Friday and will help ascertain the central bank’s monetary policy trajectory.
Money markets are now pricing in just about 39 basis points of interest-rate cuts, down from about 150 bps seen at the start of the year.
On the data front, investors will await the S&P Global Composite Flash PMI data for April, due shortly after the opening bell.
At 7:06 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 92 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 16.5 points, or 0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 65.5 points, or 0.38%.
Among other stocks, Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) Systems lost 5.8% in premarket trading after the chip design software maker forecast second-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.
Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) shed 6.3% after the steelmaker missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter earnings.
Roblox added 4.1% after J.P. Morgan upgraded the gaming platform to “overweight” from “neutral” on significant monetization opportunity.
Hibbett jumped 18.6% after JD (NASDAQ:JD) Sports Fashion proposed to buy the athletic fashion retailer for about $1.08 billion.
