Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after ending yesterday’s lackluster session modestly higher.

Traders may remain reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

Recent economic data has tamped down expectations of a near-term rate cut, with the central bank now seen as likely to leave rates unchanged until at least September.

Among individual stocks, shares of Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the drugmaker reported better than expected first quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Industrial conglomerate 3M (NYSE:MMM) is also seeing significant pre-market strength after reporting first quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

On the other hand, shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) may move to the downside after the fast food giant reported first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) is also seeing modest pre-market weakness despite reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Following the strong upward move seen last week, stocks managed to see further upside during trading on Monday. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but ended the day in positive territory.

The Dow rose 146.43 points or 0.4 percent to38389.09, the Nasdaq climbed 55.18 points or 0.4 percent to 15983.08 and the S&P 500 advanced 16.21 points or 0.3 percent to 5,116.17.

The modestly higher close on Wall Street came as stocks continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen last week, which came amid a positive reaction to upbeat tech earnings.

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) skyrocketed by 15.3 percent after the electric vehicle maker said local Chinese authorities removed restrictions on its cars,

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Traders may also have been sticking to the sidelines ahead of the release of an avalanche of earnings news this week along with the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report.

Tobacco stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.5 percent.

Considerable strength was also visible among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Utilities average

Biotechnology, telecom and commercial real estate stocks also saw notable strength, while most of the other major sectors showed only modest moves.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)
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