US pre-open: Futures trade higher ahead of another earnings heavy week

Wall Street stocks were in the green ahead of the bell on Monday as investors prepped for another week jam-packed full of corporate earnings.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.50%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.49% and 0.46% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 137.61 points lower on Friday as market participants digested earnings reports from a number of big-name companies.

This week's primary focus will be on earnings, with second-quarter updates due from the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft throughout the course of the week, while Alphabet, Timberland, and Whirlpool will all report after the close on Monday.

Traders will also be holding out for an update from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday following its two-day policy meeting, with economists widely expecting the central bank to announce a three-quarter point interest rate hike.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US and European futures are trading lower as traders are hesitating to back riskier assets ahead of big tech earnings week and Fed's monetary policy decision. The Fed has shown that it wants to tame inflation at any cost and a threat of a recession isn't going to deter them from their current plan."

On the macro front, the Chicago Federal Reserve's June national activity index will be published at 1330 BST, while the Dallas Fed's July equivalent will follow at 1530 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com