Jan 27 (Reuters) - Futures tracking S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ticked higher on Tuesday, as investors positioned themselves for a slew of earnings from automakers to airlines later in the day.
Dow futures lagged, pressured by an 8.6% drop in UnitedHealth after President Donald Trump's administration proposed a modest increase in Medicare insurer payment rates.
The insurer is also scheduled to report earnings before the bell. Peers Humana and CVS fell 13.7% and 9.4%, respectively.
At 05:22 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis
were down 40 points, or 0.08%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 17.25 points, or 0.25%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 140 points, or 0.54%.
The broader market's focus is on a raft of corporate bellwethers, including UPS and Boeing, alongside General Motors and American Airlines, which are all scheduled to report their quarterly earnings before the bell.
In total, 102 S&P 500 companies are set to post earnings results this week. Of the 64 that had reported as of Friday, 79.7% have topped analyst expectations, as per data complied by LSEG.
Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla report earnings on Wednesday, kicking off results from the so‑called "Magnificent Seven", which will be a test of the AI trade that has underpinned Wall Street's rally for much of the past year.
Investors will focus on company forecasts and commentary around capital spending and monetization to judge how much momentum the AI trade still has, as signs of crowding have recently spurred a rotation into small‑caps and other undervalued parts of the market.
The Russel 2000 index, has risen over 7% while the S&P 600 small-cap index has advanced 6.5% this month, compared with the benchmark S&P 500's 1.5% gain.
FED WATCH
The Federal Reserve begins its two‑day policy meeting on Tuesday, with investors broadly expecting the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged at the 3.5%‑3.75% range.
Attention will likely be on policymakers' guidance on how long rates may remain restrictive. Traders will also be alert to any signals around the Fed's leadership outlook, even though Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are unlikely to address speculation over who Trump may nominate as the next central bank chief.
Questions over the Fed's independence resurfaced earlier this month after the Justice Department opened an inquiry involving Powell, while Trump said he would soon announce a pick to succeed him.
Consumer confidence figures for January are due at 10:00 a.m. ET, and is expected to rise to 90.9 points from 89.1 in December.
The risk of a partial U.S. government shutdown also loomed ahead of the January 30 funding deadline, as a second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis sharpens scrutiny of Trump's immigration crackdown.
Among other stock moves, Salesforce rose 2.2% after the U.S. army awarded the company a $5.6 billion contract.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
