Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Oct. 20, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stock futures were little changed Tuesday night after a record-setting session powered by strong corporate earnings.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 17 points, hovering below the flatline. S&P 500 futures rose marginally, while Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.1%.
Tuesday evening saw a flurry of earnings reports. In after-hours trading, Netflix shares slumped 6% after the company posted an earnings miss, while Intuitive Surgical shares rallied about 16% on the back of its strong earnings and revenue results.
Strong quarterly results given earlier from companies such as Coca-Cola had powered the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a fresh high above 47,000 at one point Tuesday. The 30-stock index closed the session just below that mark at a record high.
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged to end the day, meanwhile, and the Nasdaq Composite finished slightly lower as some risk-on technology names lost steam. President Donald Trump commented about his expected meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, noting that “maybe it won’t happen. That prompted uncertainty about trade tensions between the U.S. and China that could lead to higher tariff rates and issues that could impact the semiconductor industry.
Still, investors are hopeful that the flurry of upcoming earnings reports could be the next catalyst that U.S. equities need to keep rallying. Tesla’s earnings expected Wednesday after the bell will kick off highly-awaited reports from the “Magnificent Seven” megacap tech group. More than three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have posted results so far have beaten expectations, according to FactSet.
“Ultimately, if earnings come in better than expected, and if the tech stocks really prove that the AI trade is intact, you have your next leg higher from here,” Alicia Levine, BNY Wealth head of investment strategy and equities, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
“You really have to get through that 6,800 level on the S&P to really be convinced that there’s another leg here. That’s on the technical side, but on the fundamental side, I think we get there,” Levine added.
The September consumer price index report due Friday is another key event traders are awaiting this week, particularly because all other data releases have been suspended during the U.S. government shutdown. The inflation data should give central bankers more information ahead of their upcoming meeting in late October. Markets are widely expecting the Federal Reserve to announce a quarter percentage point reduction in the overnight borrowing rate, and likely another cut in December.
