U.S. stock futures were flat early Tuesday morning after the major averages staged a big reversal to start the month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded just 11 points lower points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also hovered around the flatline.
On Monday, the major averages posted a wild up-and-down session with the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.63% in a late-day comeback, despite falling as much as 1.07% earlier in the day. The S&P 500 rose 0.57% after hitting a new 2022 low earlier in the session.
Meanwhile, the Dow gained 84 points, or 0.26%. At its session lows, the Dow was down more than 400 points.
Those moves come on the back of a brutal month in April for stocks. April was the worst month since March 2020 for the Dow and S&P 500. It was the worst month for the Nasdaq since 2008.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield also climbed to a new milestone on Monday. The bond yield hit 3.01% during the session, its highest point since December 2018.
“I think it’s really hard to try to pick bottoms in the market or pick tops in the market,” Tim Lesko, director and senior wealth advisor at Mariner Wealth Advisors, said Monday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “I think what we’re seeing is that in the long run, we’ve got a very high allocation to stocks, people are starting to rebalance and there’s some competition for stock now in the marketplace.”
Those moves come ahead of a widely anticipated Federal Reserve meeting.
Wall Street is largely expecting interest rates the central bank to raise rates by 50 basis points this week, with some investors believe expectations of aggressive monetary tightening from the central bank are already priced into markets.
“With financial conditionings tightening as they are, we think the Fed is going to be slightly more dovish than the market is expecting,” Eric Johnston, head of equity derivatives and cross asset products at Cantor Fitzgerald, said Monday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
The Federal Open Market Committee will issue a statement at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m.
A number of consumer-oriented companies are still reporting earnings this week. Shares of Avis Budget jumped more than 6% during extended trading after the car company surpassed earnings expectations on the top and bottom lines. Pent-up travel demand spurred investors to rent cars from Avis Budget despite higher prices.
Chegg’s stock price tumbled nearly 30% during extended trade after the textbook company issued weak guidance for the full year despite exceeding earnings expectations.
Restaurant Brands International, Pfizer and Paramount Global are set to report earnings before the bell on Tuesday. Airbnb, AMD, Lyft and Starbucks are expected to report earnings after the bell the same day.
Traders will also watch for the latest reading of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) data that is expected at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Data on auto sales for April is also expected on Tuesday.
