U.S. stock-index futures fell on Tuesday, as the heavily-weighted technology stocks remained under pressure on valuation concerns ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony in Congress.

Global Stocks:

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Exxon Mobil (XOM) initiated with an In-line at Evercore ISI; target $48

Starbucks (SBUX) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets; target raised to $120

FXStreet reports that S&P 500 has confirmed a small “head & shoulders” top below 3885 following the move to 3900 and the Credit Suisse analyst team continues to look for a correction lower to 3819/17 and potentially to 3792/74.

“We maintain our view of looking for a correction lower with support seen at 3852 initially, the 38.2% retracement of the rally from late January. Whilst we would look for this to hold at first, below in due course can see support next at 3830 and then the ‘measured top objective’ at 3819/17.” 

“We see scope for an overshoot into the 3792/74 early February price gap but with the rising 63-day average not far below here at 3761, we look for a floor here for a resumption of the core uptrend.” 

FXStreet notes that the U.S. equities markets have continued to perform well, fueled by upbeat earnings and vaccination news. However, that’s often when surprises arise. A correction would be welcome at this point, as sentiment and positioning have reached extreme levels, as Mike Wilson, Chief Investment Officer and Chief US Equity Strategist for Morgan Stanley suggests.

“Fourth-quarter earnings proved to be terrific for most companies. With 419 companies in the S&P 500 reporting so far, earnings per share have come in 18% higher than the consensus estimate. Sales have been just 3% higher on average, suggesting our operating leverage theme is really playing out. Fourth-quarter sales actually grew 1% year over year.”

“After a slow start, the vaccination process has picked up nicely. In addition, there is some evidence that the first shot of the vaccine could provide 75% effectiveness against symptoms of any kind. Meanwhile, new cases are falling more rapidly than expected, and several leading health experts are even saying we may achieve herd immunity as early as April.”

“At this point, it seems like nothing can slow this bull market. However, that's exactly when surprises usually arise. We see two potential risks to be thinking about as we exit February. First, is the risk associated with interest rates rising sharply as bond markets simply catch up to what other asset prices are already reflecting. Second is the risk that some of the positive operating leverage that we've been witnessing in company earnings reports starts to go in reverse.”

“With this macro backdrop, we continue to favor areas in the market that are reasonably priced or can benefit from rising rates and inflation. Areas like banks, materials and energy. We also favor reopening beneficiaries in the consumer and business services sectors, as markets begin to digest a faster return to normal activities.”

Home Depot (HD) reported Q4 FY 2020 earnings of $2.65 per share (versus $2.28 per share in Q4 FY 2019), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $2.37 per share.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $32.261 bln (+25.1% y/y), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $27.096 bln.

The company also announced that its board of directors approved an increase in its quarterly dividend by 10% to $1.65/share, which equates to an annual dividend of $6.60/share.

HD fell to $266.98 (-3.22%) in pre-market trading.