Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 26, 2026 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
S&P500 futures Major stock averages rose on Tuesday morning after a strong start to a busy earnings week. Investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, expected later this week.
Futures linked to the broad market index were last up 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures Added 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures down 49 points (0.1%), united health KK.
Shares of several large health insurance companies fell sharply in after-hours trading after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed raising payments to Medicare Advantage insurers by a net average of just 0.09% in 2027. humana While the decline was 12%, CVS Health Lost almost 10%. The news that CMS will keep interest rates relatively flat next year was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
President Donald Trump also announced late Monday that he would increase tariffs on South Korean-made cars, medicine and lumber from 15% to 25%. He cited delays in approving the trade agreement that South Korea signed with the United States last summer.
Stocks got off to a strong start this week, helped by gains in major technology stocks. of S&P500 It rose 0.5% in regular trading on Monday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 314 points, or 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4% as Apple, Metaplatforms and Microsoft rose ahead of earnings releases scheduled for later this week.
More than 90 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report their quarterly results this week. They include the “Magnificent Seven” giants Meta, Tesla and Microsoft, which will be released on Wednesday. Apple is scheduled to announce its results on Thursday.
Earnings season has been strong so far, with about three out of four S&P 500 companies beating expectations, according to FactSet.
“The biggest concern is earnings season, with 200 companies reporting over the next two weeks and so far so good,” said Adam Parker, founder and CEO of Trivariate Research. “I think the real issue is that expectations for the second half of the year are too high. So the question is, can we maintain this momentum into the April outlook? I think so.”
The Fed’s first policy decision of the year is coming this week. The central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates in its target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, but traders are looking for clues about the timing of future rate cuts. Federal funds futures still suggest a two-quarter point rate cut by the end of 2026, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
In Tuesday’s economic data, traders will focus on the latest consumer confidence and home price data.
Companies scheduled to report quarterly results on Tuesday include American Airlines and Boeing.
