Nasdaq futures slipped slightly ahead of big tech earnings

Nasdaq 100 futures slipped slightly on Monday evening, after stocks bounced back in the afternoon and ahead of earnings from major tech companies.

Futures linked to the technology-focused index were down 0.1%. Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 contracts changed little.

In regular trading on Monday, the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3%. The Dow Jones advanced 0.7%, after cutting a 500-point loss from earlier today, and the S&P 500 gained 0.6%.

The moves came as tech names such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms rose in the afternoon, amid lower interest rates and ahead of an intense earnings week for huge tech stocks. Twitter also jumped after its board of directors I accepted the offer of Tesla CEO Elon Musk to take it private.

Investors welcomed the rebound after stocks ended last week on a bad note, with the Dow falling to its fourth consecutive low week and the S&P and Nasdaq posting three-week losses on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is trying to break out of bear market territory, sitting 19.8% off its all-time high.

Whether this is a bottom remains to be seen. Edward Moya, chief market analyst at Oanda, told CNBC that there was still a lot of optimism about the US economy, and said he expects a rebound from here.

One third of Standard & Poor’s reports [earnings] This week, you’ll likely see a lot of the same thing: a lot of upper and lower beats. Companies will talk about margin pressures and pass price increases to the consumer, but they still highlight that there is still general optimism about the economy.”

Moya added that between continued earnings beats and a quiet period from the Federal Reserve, there is likely to be a rebound in the market.

“We won’t get any more nervous about Fed tightening, because we won’t hear much about it until the May meeting,” he said.

Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, Market Bull, said that although he had predicted a “treacherous” first half of the year, the market had been worse than he had anticipated, with inflation worsening relative to market expectations. However, he is still optimistic.

“When the bond market screams for the Fed to get tighter, it’s hard for stocks to hold and I think that’s what we’re going through right now, but I don’t think that means we should sell,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” Monday.

“The markets just want to have some sense of when this might end,” he added. “If inflation doesn’t reach some kind of peak that worries the markets, but I also don’t think it’s consistent that inflation will continue to be a problem even into the second half.”

Tech earnings will start Tuesday after the bell with Alphabet and Microsoft. Meta, Amazon and Apple will report later in the week. UPS and 3M are also scheduled to report in the morning.

In economic data, investors are expecting new numbers for new home sales and consumer confidence Tuesday morning.