U.S. stock futures were slightly in the green Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed its third positive week in a row at a record, driven by better-than-expected earnings reports.
Dow futures gained 16 points. S&P 500 futures were up about 0.1%.
Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were the standout, trading up by 0.3% ahead of big earnings reports for major companies in the industry.
Wall Street is coming off a winning week on the back of strong corporate earnings. The blue-chip Dow gained more than 1% last week and closed Friday at a record. The S&P 500 rallied 1.7% last week, also posting its third straight positive week and hitting an all-time high Friday.
Of the 117 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date, 84% posted numbers that beat expectations, according to Refinitiv. S&P 500 companies are expected to grow profit by about 35% in the third quarter.
“Rising tide of earnings is lifting all the boats and adding fuel to the bull market fire,” said Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist at Commonwealth Financial Network. “The 3Q earnings season is off to a strong start despite concerns about supply bottlenecks and labor shortages.”
Some of the biggest technology companies are slated to report earnings this week, including Facebook, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple. A third of the Dow companies also is set to release quarterly results this week, including Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Boeing and McDonald’s.
Microsoft and Amazon were higher in premarket trading ahead of their results this week.
Shares of Tesla, which reported record revenue and profits last week, gained 2% in premarket trading Monday after Morgan Stanley hiked its price target on the shares to $1,200 from $900.
Major averages have all registered solid gains for October. The Dow and the S&P 500 are both up more than 5%, while the Nasdaq Composite has climbed 4.4% month to date.
Leading the October rally in the broader market has been the energy sector, which is up 11% this month. Industrials, real estate, materials and financials have all popped at least 7% over the same period.
“Transports, consumer discretionary, and large-cap tech have led the market higher these past two weeks, signaling that growth worries around supply chain constraints are beginning to fade,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest.
