Stock market today: Live updates

U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday as investors navigated a flood of corporate earnings reports. 

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 80 points, or 0.2%. Futures linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck reported a smaller-than-expected loss and revenue that exceeded expectations thanks to strong Keytruda sales. Merck shares rose 1%. Caterpillar also reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, but the stock was flat.

Pfizer, meanwhile, posted mixed results as Covid product sales plummeted. Uber also reported mixed numbers, but posted a surprise profit lifting shares more than 4% before the bell.

More than 160 S&P 500 constituents are slated to report their latest quarterly results this week. More than half of the companies in the broad market index have already reported, with 80% posting earnings beats, according to FactSet. This further raises hopes that the economy will be able to avoid a recession as inflation begins to show signs of slowing. 

To be sure, Globalt Investments senior portfolio manager Keith Buchanan noted that expectations coming into this season were negative.

“We beat that bar, but still, thus far [there have] been indications that we’re going to end up in a negative year-over-year growth from an earnings standpoint,” said Buchanan. “But we’re more concerned and frankly, somewhat optimistic about the earnings picture for the second half of this year, in particular 2024.”

He added that signs of a widening market rally have emerged in the past month.

“As this market continues to kind of turn higher, we’re expecting a broader participation with small cap participating, [with] some spaces of the value cohort participating as well,” Buchanan added.  

Economic indicators, including job openings and labor turnover numbers from June and the July manufacturing purchasing managers’ index will also be released Tuesday.

The major indexes all ended Monday’s main trading session modestly higher. The Dow rose 0.28%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.15% and 0.21%, respectively. In July, the S&P 500 and the Dow each gained more than 3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced about 4.1%.