Stock Futures Slip as Fed Meeting Kicks Off

Stock futures are sliding this morning, following record closes for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) yesterday. The flood of Big Tech earnings will start after the close with Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL), while the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting kicks off today, with an interest rate decision announced tomorrow. Per CME Group's Fed Watch tool, there's a 97.9% chance interest rates are held steady.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

• These metrics say SPX sentiment is shifting, per Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone. 
• CVS Health stock flashing bull signal. 
• Plus, SPOT upgraded; and two stocks making large post-earnings swings. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.5 million call contracts and 878,720 put contracts traded on Monday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.57 while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.71.
2. Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) stock is up 1.5% premarket, after an upgrade from UBS to "buy" from "neutral." The firm sees a 25% upside for the streaming stock, which yesterday hit two-year highs. Since the start of the year, SPOT is already up 16.3%. 
3. Shares of United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE:UPS) are down 6.7% before the bell, after the shipping company missed fourth-quarter revenue estimates and provided disappointing full-year guidance, citing weak e-commerce demand. Since last January, UPS is sporting a 13.2% deficit. 
4. General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) is up 7.6% in electronic trading, after the auto maker beat top- and bottom-line estimates in the fourth quarter and posted an upbeat 2024 outlook. Should these gains hold, the auto stock will break into positive territory for the year. 
5. Plenty more earnings reports to unpack this week. 

Investors Unpack Euro Zone Data 

Stocks in Asia were mostly lower Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the region’s laggards, shedding 2.3% after yesterday’s news that embattled property developer Evergrande was ordered to liquidate. China’s Shanghai Composite followed with a 1.8% loss, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped a marginal 0.07%. Rounding out the region, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.1%, after the country’s unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in December – lower than economists expected.

Across the pond, European markets are higher this afternoon. Investors in the euro zone are digesting preliminary fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GPD) numbers, which showed Germany’s economy contracted last quarter, a sign that Europe’s largest economy is nearing a recession. Despite this news, Germany’s DAX was last seen 0.1% higher. Meanwhile, U.K. shop price inflation dropped considerably in January, touching its lowest rate in nearly two years, helping London’s FTSE 100 rise 0.6%. Finally, France’s economy stagnated in the final three month of 2023, but the CAC 40 was still seen 0.5% higher at last glance.