synopsis

On Monday, the major averages settled on a mixed note as traders adopted a "wait-and-watch" approach following four straight sessions of gains.

U.S. index futures rose modestly in Asian trading hours as investors eyed some key economic data and remained cautious ahead of Big Tech earnings, which will kickstart on Wednesday.

As of 10:35 p.m. ET on Monday, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow and Russell 2000 futures were up 0.31%, 0.44%, 0.22% and 0.18%, respectively.

The 10-year Treasury note slipped further overnight, toward the 4.20% mark, while crude and gold futures were also lower.

On the economic calendar, the spotlight will likely be on the Conference Board's consumer confidence reading for April and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for March. Both reports are due at 10 a.m. ET.

The consumer confidence index is expected to slip to 87.7 in April from 92.9 in March. On the other hand, the JOLTS report is expected to show a drop in the March job openings to 7.4 million from 7.6 million in February.

Altria (MO), Coca-Cola (KO), General Motors (GM), Honeywell (HON), JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Pfizer (PFE), Kraft Heinz (KHC), PayPal (PYPL) and Spotify (SPOT) are the notable earnings due before the market open.

Booking Holdings (BKNG), First Solar (FSLR), Logitech International (LOGI), Qorvo (QRVO), Seagate Technology (STX), Snap (SNAP), Visa (V) and Starbucks (SBUX) are among the companies reporting after the market closes.

Morgan Stanley Equity Strategist Mike Wilson expects range-bound trading to last until there are more apparent risk-on shifts in factors such as the Sino-U.S. trade deal, a more dovish Federal Reserve, 10-year yields falling below 4% without recessionary data, and a clear rebound in earnings revisions.

"While a modest/brief overshoot of 5500 can persist very short-term, a sustained break above the next level of resistance (5600-5650) is likely dependent on developments that have yet to come to fruition," he said.

On Monday, the S&P 500 Index rose for a fifth straight session and settled at 5,528.75.

Monday's mixed performance came as traders adopted a "wait-and-watch" approach following four straight sessions of gains. After a sharp drop by the mid-session, the indices clawed back the losses, with small caps leading the charge.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) ended Monday's session up 0.04% at $550.85, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.31% to $402.27.

The iShares Russell 2,000 ETF (IWM) ended up 0.42% at $194.94.

On the other hand, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF edged down 0.03% at $472.41, with Nvidia (NVDA) serving as a drag following reports of China's Huawei developing a rival artificial intelligence (AI) chip.

For the year-to-date period, the SPY, QQQ, and DIA are down over 5.7%, 7.5%, and 5.1, respectively. The IWM has fallen a steeper 11.6%.

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