Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures drifted lower in evening trade on Tuesday following a muted session on Wall Street as rising Treasury yields and anticipation of a tight presidential election spurred risk aversion.
Investors digested a swathe of mixed earnings, with focus now turning to an upcoming report from electric car maker Tesla, which is due after the close on Wednesday.
Risk appetite was also soured by increasing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as markets watched for a strike by Israel against Iran.
S&P 500 Futures fell 0.1% to 5,884.25 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.2% to 20,502.0 points by 19:16 ET (23:16 GMT). Dow Jones Futures fell 0.4% to 43,015.0 points.
Tesla Q3 earnings on tap
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)- the world’s most valuable automaker- will report its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The firm is the largest U.S. firm to report earnings this week, with about a fifth of the S&P 500 reporting this week.
Tesla’s earnings come after the EV maker’s third-quarter deliveries missed expectations, while the long-awaited reveal of its robotaxi largely underwhelmed. The stock was also nursing steep losses for October.
Beyond Tesla, other Wall Street majors including AT&T Inc (NYSE:T), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) are also set to report on Wednesday.
Wall St pressured by election jitters, rising yields
Wall Street indexes fell from record highs this week, and logged muted movements on Tuesday as markets were spooked by an increase in Treasury yields. The 10-year rate surged to a near three-month high on Tuesday as traders began pricing in a slower pace of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, and as recent data showed resilience in the U.S. economy.
Uncertainty over the presidential election also weighed, with analysts predicting a tight race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Prediction markets showed Trump’s odds improving over Harris.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 5,851.20 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.2% to 18,572.17 points on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat at 42,924.89 points.
Aftermarket movers: McDonald’s falls, Texas Instruments rises
Among major aftermarket movers, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) fell nearly 6% after the Center for Disease Control issued an alert over an E. coli outbreak linked to the fast food chain’s quarter pounders.
The outbreak caused 10 hospitalizations and one death across 10 states, the CDC said.
Chiipmaker Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) rose 3.9% after its third-quarter earnings beat estimates, although its outlook for the current quarter somewhat underwhelmed.