US pre-open: Futures in the red ahead as investors await tech earnings

Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the opening bell on Monday as investors prepared for a tech-heavy week on the earnings front.

As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were 0.35% lower, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.25% and 0.10% weaker, respectively.

The Dow closed 238.20 points higher on Friday as all three major averages closed out the week at record highs after markets tumbled at the start of the week on concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 delta variant.

Earnings will be firmly in focus this week, with Tesla scheduled to report this evening, tech giants Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft set to report on Tuesday, while Facebook and Amazon will report later in the week.

In terms of today's earnings, toymaker Hasbro posted a 54% increase in second-quarter earnings to $1.32bn, with operating profits growing to $76.6m, or 5.8% of revenues, while aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin will also publish their latest quarterly report card before the open.

Still to come, bootmaker Timberland will report throughout the course of the day, while electronic carmaker Tesla was slated to post earnings after the close.

On the macro front, new home sales data for June will be published at 1400 BST, while the Dallas Federal Reserve's July manufacturing index will follow at 1430 BST.

Market participants will also be glued to the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, beginning Tuesday, with the Federal Open Market Committee and the Board of Governors expected to issue a statement on their current stance on monetary policy on Wednesday.