Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Climb As Investors Brace For Earnings Rush, Fed Signals: Why META, MSFT, MU, UNH, GME Are On Traders' Radar Today

Retail sentiment around major ETFs such as SPY and QQQ stayed bearish on Stocktwits.

• Wall Street remains steady ahead of the Fed decision and a heavy earnings slate.
• Investors will also watch for remarks from President Trump, scheduled to speak in Iowa later today.
• UnitedHealth (UNH), RTX Corp (RTX), Boeing (BA), UPS (UPS), General Motors (GM), and American Airlines (AAL) are on the earnings radar today. 

U.S. stock futures were largely higher early Tuesday, as investors prepared for a busy stretch of the fourth-quarter earnings season and the Federal Reserve’s first policy meeting of 2026 this week. 

As of 3:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nasdaq futures were up 0.6%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%, and Russell 2000 futures were up 0.4%. However, the Dow futures were flat with a negative bias.  

Meanwhile, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, moderated to ‘bearish’ from 'extremely bearish’ a day ago, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, has remained ‘bearish,’ amid high message volumes. 

Investors will also be watching for remarks from President Trump, who is scheduled to speak in Iowa later today.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Meta Platforms (META): Reports suggest the company is testing new subscription models across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. 

Micron (MU): The stock is in focus after announcing plans to invest $24 billion over 10 years in a NAND manufacturing facility in Singapore. It expects to begin wafer output in the second half of 2028.

Google (GOOGL): The company has reportedly agreed to pay $68 million to settle claims related to unauthorized recordings of its voice assistant, without admitting wrongdoing.

Microsoft (MSFT): Local officials in Wisconsin have approved 15 additional data centers in the region.

Amazon Web Services (AMZN): It has secured a $581 million U.S. Air Force Cloud One contract.

Salesforce, Inc (CRM): The stock jumped 1.5% in extended trading on Monday, after the company said it secured a $5.6 billion contract from the U.S. military.

UnitedHealth (UNH), RTX Corp (RTX), Boeing (BA), UPS (UPS), General Motors (GM), and American Airlines (AAL) are on the earnings radar today. 

Also keep an eye on ASML (ASML) ahead of earnings on Jan 28, with investors watching for updates to sales forecasts. 

Health Insurers (UNH, HUM, CVS): The sector is reeling after the Trump administration announced a 2027 Medicare Advantage Advance Notice Rate of just 0.09%, far below the 5% investor expectation. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald warned of materially negative stock reactions.

GameStop (GME): Shares of the video game retailer surged after noted investor Michael Burry disclosed a long position. 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Sofi Technologies (SOFI), Rocket Lab (RKLB), Lucid Group (LCID), and Hycroft Mining (HYMC), among others. 

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, traders will monitor the release of the House Price Index and CB Consumer Confidence this morning. 

And on the earnings radar, investors will also be watching for the quarterly reports from RTX Corp (RTX), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Roper Technologies (ROP), Sysco (SYY), Kimberly-Clark (KMB), Synchrony (SYF), and JetBlue (JBLU), among others, later today. 

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