Today's top 5 financial market news: US earnings reports flood in, and US retail sales data will be released

Investing.com - Futures linked to major U.S. indices are flat as investors assess a tech rebound and await this week’s highly anticipated U.S. economic data. A new wave of corporate earnings reports will also be released, including results from CVS Health and Coca-Cola. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei hits a new all-time high, while gold pulls back.

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1. Futures remain subdued

On Tuesday, U.S. stock futures hovered near flat, suggesting a cautious open after a tech-led rebound in the previous trading session.

As of 03:04 a.m. Eastern Time (16:04 Beijing time), Dow futures and S&P 500 futures were essentially unchanged, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 18 points, or 0.1%.

Major Wall Street indexes rose on Monday, continuing gains from the previous weekend, mainly driven by tech stocks benefiting from AI-driven growth in data centers.

Market sentiment was boosted by a CNBC report that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees in an internal memo that its flagship ChatGPT chatbot has resumed growth, fueling optimism about the business, which is seen as a key node connecting many AI companies. In fact, analysts at Vital Knowledge said expectations of an improved outlook for OpenAI prompted DA Davidson to upgrade its outlook on Oracle, which has a $300 billion data center contract with ChatGPT’s developer.

By the close of trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.9%, just below a new all-time high. The benchmark S&P 500 also neared record levels.

2. Earnings season takes center stage

On Tuesday, investors will focus on a series of corporate earnings, eager to analyze these reports to better understand how U.S. companies are performing in the early months of 2026.

Healthcare giant CVS Health, beverage maker Coca-Cola, hotel chain Marriott International, and music streaming service Spotify will release earnings before the market opens. Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences will report after the U.S. market closes.

In after-hours trading, Onsemi’s stock declined after the chipmaker reported Q4 revenue below expectations due to ongoing inventory buildup. Many of its customers in Arizona are still digesting chips accumulated during recent supply chain constraints.

Weak auto sales and increased competition from China may also cloud Onsemi’s silicon carbide chip division outlook. The company’s sales forecast range for the current quarter is below Wall Street estimates.

3. U.S. retail sales data due soon

In terms of data, traders will be watching for the release of December retail sales figures.

Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, accounting for more than two-thirds of total output. In Q3, consumer spending contributed to a 4.4% annualized growth in gross domestic product.

However, core retail sales—excluding autos, gasoline, building materials, and food services, which are most closely linked to GDP consumer spending—are expected to grow 0.3% in the last month of 2025, down from 0.5% in November.

Analysts note that a slowdown in the labor market may be behind this potential deceleration, even though Federal Reserve officials described the job market as “steady” in January.

ING analysts added in a report that they expect these data to show “fairly healthy” growth and reinforce the view that “U.S. consumer vitality remains strong.”

4. “High market trade” boosts Nikkei to new record high

On Tuesday, Asian stocks continued their tech-led rally, with Japan’s stock market soaring to a new record high amid investor optimism following Prime Minister Takashi Takashi’s victory in the weekend’s election, dubbed the “High Market Trade.”

This rally reflects strong investor confidence in Takashi’s policy agenda, which is seen as supporting growth, corporate profitability, and domestic investment.

Takashi’s decisive victory in the weekend election has strengthened expectations that his government will push forward pro-business reforms, fiscal support, and measures aimed at boosting capital investment, innovation, and strategic industries.

5. Gold pulls back

On Tuesday, gold prices declined, retreating from a strong rally the previous day, as the metals market remained cautious ahead of a series of key U.S. economic data releases this week.

Silver and platinum prices also fell, though they received limited support from the overnight decline of the dollar, which stabilized during Asian trading hours.

Precious metals experienced volatile swings over the past week, with profit-taking and overheated market positioning pulling prices down from record highs. Uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy, ahead of potential leadership changes at the Federal Reserve, has also contributed to higher volatility.

Meanwhile, safe-haven demand that typically boosts gold has been affected by conflicting developments in U.S.-Iran relations. Although some progress was made over the weekend in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, Washington still issued warnings on Monday about ships flying U.S. flags navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

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