United States stock futures were largely unchanged on Monday evening (Tuesday AEDT), following a strong rally that sent all major U.S. benchmarks to record highs earlier in the day.
Investors took a breather as attention turned toward a busy week filled with central bank meetings, corporate earnings, and developments in trade relations between Washington and Beijing.
By 9:40 am AEDT (10:40 pm GMT), Dow futures were up 0.04%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1% apiece.
In extended trading, Nucor rose 3.9% after the steel manufacturer reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.63, above its prior guidance of $2.05 to $2.15 and beating expectations of $2.18. Revenue for the quarter totalled $8.52 billion, beating consensus forecasts of $8.18 billion.
However, Nucor noted that earnings for the current quarter would likely come in lower than the third quarter’s results.
F5 fell 6.2% after issuing weaker guidance for the year, now expecting adjusted full-year earnings between $14.50 and $15.50 per share, with revenue growth of 0% to 4%. The company cited “some near-term disruption to sales cycles” following a system breach earlier this month attributed to state-backed Chinese hackers.
Despite the guidance cut, F5 posted a fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, with EPS coming in at $4.39 versus $3.97 expected, while revenues came in at $810.09 million versus 794.86 million expected.
Cadence Design Systems slipped 1.2% after issuing softer guidance for the fourth quarter, projecting revenue between $1.41 billion and $1.44 billion, compared with expectations of $1.41 billion. The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.93 per share on revenue of $1.34 billion, topping expectations of $1.79 per share and $1.32 billion, respectively.
Earlier in the session, investors cheered signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of a closely watched meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping scheduled for Thursday.
During Monday's regular U.S. session, the S&P 500 closed above 6,800 for the first time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite each finished at new record highs. The small-cap Russell 2000 also ended at an all-time high.
Attention now turns to the Federal Reserve, which begins its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to cut rates for the second time this year.
Traders are also looking for a signal from Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday that another cut could follow in December amid signs of a cooling labour market.
The Fed faces the challenge of making its decision during an economic data blackout caused by the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
Meanwhile, earnings season continues in full swing, with several of the so-called “Magnificent Seven”, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, set to release results midweek.
In corporate news, Amazon is reportedly set to begin layoffs on Tuesday, marking the largest job cuts in the company’s history and extending the wave of workforce reductions seen across the tech sector this year.
