US STOCKS-Wall St set for slightly higher open, spotlight on corporate earnings

D.R. Horton

28/10/2025 13:19

Futures up: Dow 0.46%, S&P 500 0.11%, Nasdaq 0.17%

UPS climbs after forecasting Q4 revenue above expectations

UnitedHealth shares gain after company raises FY outlook

Updates to before markets open

By Johann M Cherian and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open marginally higher on Tuesday, spurred by upbeat forecasts from companies such as UnitedHealth and UPS, while investors also examined a private employment survey for insights into the U.S. economy.

One of the busiest weeks of the third-quarter earnings season is underway and AI-related updates are being scrutinized to justify high valuations and hefty investments, especially for tech majors.

Microsoft MSFT.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O, Apple AAPL.O, Amazon AMZN.O and Meta META.O are scheduled to report results later in the week.

In premarket trading, Dow component UnitedHealth's UNH.N shares rose 4.3% after the healthcare giant raised its annual profit forecast - a sign that turnaround efforts were gathering steam. Peers Elevance Health ELV.N and Centene CNC.N gained more than 2% each.

Global economy bellwether United Parcel Service UPS.N climbed 12.2% after forecasting fourth-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations. Rival FedEx FDX.N added 3.5%.

Of the 143 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings last week, around 87% have beaten analyst estimates so far.

"The earnings are coming in much better than expected and the guidance is actually coming in fairly good as well, and that's helping support the market during the government shutdown and all the tariff talk," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

At 8:56 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 rose 218 points, or 0.46%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 added 7.5 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 gained 43.25 points, or 0.17%.

The U.S. government has been shut down for nearly a month, delaying crucial economic data and forcing traders to rely on private releases and corporate announcements.

An
ADP National Employment Report
 said the U.S. economy added an average of 14,250 jobs in the four weeks ending October 11, according to preliminary estimates. The official nonfarm payrolls report was last published in early September.

Investors also grappled with layoff reports from companies including
Amazon
 AMZN.O,
Paramount
 PSKY.O and
United Parcel Service
 UPS.N.

"It doesn't bode well for the overall economy, with a lack of data from the United States government," Pavlik said.

Fed officials will meet later in the day to discuss interest rates and plans to end the central bank's "quantitative tightening" policy. The central bank's verdict on interest rates is due to be announced on Wednesday.

Markets are now pricing in expectations that the U.S. central bank will lower borrowing costs by 50 basis points by the year-end.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence report, along with surveys by the Richmond and Texas Federal Reserves, are expected to be released on Tuesday.

Among top movers, PayPal PYPL.O surged 11.2% after the payments firm announced a partnership with OpenAI to allow ChatGPT users to check out instantly.

Royal Caribbean Group RCL.N slid 9.8% after a disappointing fourth-quarter profit forecast. D.R. Horton DHI.N posted a smaller quarterly profit, sending its shares down 5.9%.

Investors are optimistic that U.S. President Donald Trump will strike a long-awaited trade deal with China during his Asia tour. Trump has signed a deal with Japan to mine and process critical minerals and rare earths.

 (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Pooja Desai)

 ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com))