Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes were mostly flat early Monday as investors braced for one of the busiest weeks of the firstquarter earnings season. Contracts linked to the Dow and the SP 500 hovered around the flatline. Nasdaq 100 futures traded marginally lower. Tesla shares were slightly lower in premarket trading ahead of the electric carmakers earnings report after the bell Monday.
Investors are due for a busy week ahead between a Federal Reserve meeting, the debut of President Joe Bidens American Families Plan, more inflation data and a torrent of corporate earnings reports. About a third of the SP 500 this week is set to update investors on how their businesses fared during the three months ended March 31. Some of the largest tech companies in the world are scheduled to report results this week, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.
With the global economy gradually reopening, firms like Boeing, Ford and Caterpillar are expected to note cost pressures they are facing from rising materials and transportation prices. Corporations have for the most part managed to beat Wall Streets forecasts thus far into earnings season. With 25 of the companies in the SP 500 reporting firstquarter results, 84 have reported a positive pershare earnings surprise and 77 have topped revenue estimates. If 84 is the final percentage, it will tie the mark for the highest percentage of SP 500 companies reporting a positive EPS surprise since FactSet began…