US stock futures rallied ahead of a busy day of earnings reports and the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president.
Futures pegged to the S&P 500 were up 0.4% Wednesday, while contracts pegged to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 were up 0.8%. Dow Jones Industrial futures were on average 0.1% higher.
Investors were analyzing a series of earnings reports from UnitedHealth, Procter & Gamble, US Bancorp and Morgan Stanley. United Airlines will announce earnings just after markets close.
Stocks got off to a positive start to the week, with all three major indexes hovering just below their record highs. Investors remain optimistic that tax incentives are helping businesses through the damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic.
That will put pressure on companies to perform during this earnings season and meet market expectations, said Brian O’Reilly, head of market strategy at Mediolanum Investment Funds.