Stock futures fall on Sunday as Wall Street braces for a busy earnings week

U.S. stock futures fell on Sunday night amid a four-week losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average as investors weighed the likelihood of rising interest rates. Wall Street is also bracing for a stacked week of earnings, including reports from major tech companies such as Amazon and Apple.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 36 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.2%.

Those moves come after Friday’s selloff, with the Dow dropping 981.36 points, or 2.8%, to 33,811.40 in what was the Dow’s worst day since October 2020. The S&P 500 fell 2.8% to 4,271.78, or its worst day since March. The Nasdaq Composite dropped by 2.6% to 12,839.29.

All the major averages closed down lower last week, with the Dow falling 1.9% for the week, or its fourth straight weekly decline. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.8% and 3.8% for the week respectively, posting their third straight weekly decline.

“There has been severe damage in many areas of the market, while money rotated into perceived ‘defensives’ like Utilities, Staples, Pharma, and even mega-cap growth,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. “Those areas, despite their strong momentum, are now unwinding lower, while the low-momentum names continue to trend down.”

Investors will be watching Twitter, which reportedly is re-examining Elon Musk’s takeover bid after the billionaire investor disclosed he secured $46.5 billion in financing, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed sources.

Wall Street is also bracing for what will be the busiest week yet in corporate earnings season. About 160 companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report earnings this week, and all eyes will be on reports from big tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.

Coca-Cola is expected to report before the bell on Monday with a management call set at 8:30 a.m. ET. Other companies reporting on Monday include Activision Blizzard, Otis, Whirlpool and Zions Bancorp.

Traders are also looking forward to a key measure of inflation this week. The personal consumer expenditures index is set to be released Friday before the bell. In February, the core PCE jumped 5.4%.