Futures slip as investors brace for tech earnings, economic data

(Reuters) – Wall Street futures slipped on Monday as investors await earnings from big technology companies as well as economic data this week for clues on the state of the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.

Market heavyweights including Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:), whose shares have supported markets this year, are scheduled to report results this week. Whether the rally continues could depend on the companies beating already-lowered first-quarter estimates.

Wall Street has largely held steady through the start of the earnings season as results from the big banks came in stronger than expected, allaying concerns about a contagion from the banking crisis in March.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:), set to report before the opening bell on Monday, edged up 0.3% in premarket trading.

Of the 88 companies that reported results through Friday, nearly 76% beat analysts’ first-quarter profit estimates, as per Refinitiv IBES data, above the long-term average of 66.3%.

Forecasts for earnings have also improved marginally, with analysts now expecting a profit contraction of 4.7% versus a 5.1% decline estimated at the start of April.

Early readings of first-quarter U.S. GDP, personal consumer expenditure index (PCE) for March, consumer confidence numbers for April are among the data scheduled for release this week.

Investors will scrutinize these reports for signs of an economic slowdown after mixed data last week cemented bets of another 25-basis-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve in May and tempered expectations of rate cuts later this year.

Money market traders have priced in an 85% chance of the Fed hiking rates by 25 bps next month, as per CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) Fedwatch tool.

At 06:00 a.m. ET, were down 80 points, or 0.24%, were down 9 points, or 0.22%, and were down 19.5 points, or 0.15%.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:)’s shares tumbled 41.5% as the home goods retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it failed to secure funds to stay afloat.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:) slipped 0.1%. The regional bank, whose shares have sunk 88% this year triggered by the U.S. banking crisis, is set to report results after market closes on Monday.