1. Earnings bonanza: ExxonMobil, Mastercard, Aetna, Under Armour, Sprint and UPS are some of the key companies releasing earnings before the open.
Investors will be keeping a particularly close eye on oil giant ExxonMobil — whose former CEO Rex Tillerson has been nominated as Trump’s secretary of state.
Apple, Electronic Arts and U.S. Steel are set to release earnings after the close.
The Apple results will show how successful the iPhone 7 was during the holiday season.
In Japan, shares in Nintendo declined by nearly 2% Tuesday after the firm reported its latest earnings.
2. Fed meets to discuss rates: The U.S. Federal Reserve will kick off a two-day meeting to discuss interest rates and monetary policy.
Fed chair Janet Yellen said earlier this month that the economy is near maximum employment and inflation was moving closer to the central bank’s goal. Yellen reiterated that she and other Fed leaders expect to raise rates a “few times a year” until 2019.
The Fed may also discuss President Donald Trump’s new policies and their economic impact. Before Trump took office, Fed officials said there was “considerable uncertainty” surrounding his plans.
3. Global market overview: Investor enthusiasm is waning on the final day of January.
Traders are considering President Trump’s latest moves related to his travel ban, which bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days.
Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates Monday night for “refusing to enforce” the order.
“Trump’s decision to fire the acting U.S. Attorney General caused equity markets to weaken,” said Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management. “Diversity and tolerance are not just morally good, they are also good for profits. Challenging diversity and tolerance has long-term profit implications.”
U.S. stock futures have dipped into the red.
European markets were mostly higher in early trading. Most Asian markets ended the day with losses.
The Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all dropped on Monday.
4. Deutsche Bank in trouble: German lender Deutsche Bank is facing roughly $630 million in fines for failing to deal with a Russian money-laundering scheme that used its London and New York branches.
This follows a $7.2 billion settlement Deutsche Bank reached with the U.S. last month over toxic mortgage assets and the $2.5 billion it agreed to pay in 2015 over interest rate manipulation.
Shares in the bank were up by nearly 2% in European trading.
5. Economics: The latest monthly S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index will be released at 9 a.m. ET.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for January is out at 10 a.m. ET.
6. Coming this week:
Tuesday – Fed meeting begins; Last day for Obamacare open enrollment; Apple reports earnings
Wednesday – Facebook earnings; Auto sales reports
Thursday – Amazon and Chipotle earnings
Friday – U.S. jobs report for January
