Stock futures flat after the market notches its best quarter in

On Jan 21, 2022

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A man wearing a protective mask sits on top of the Charging Bull sculpture near Wall St. amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 19, 2020 in New York City, United States.

Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images

Stock futures were flat in overnight trading on Tuesday as the market is set to kick off a new quarter after a remarkable comeback.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 25 points. The S&P 500 futures and the Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. Trading volumes were thin.

The market just notched its best quarter in decades as it snapped back from the historic sell-off triggered by the coronavirus. The Dow gained 17.8% in the second quarter, posting its best quarter since 1987, while the S&P 500 finished the period with a near 20% gain, its best since 1998. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 30.6% for the quarter, the most since 1999.

In after-hours trading Tuesday, FedEx jumped nearly 9% after posting quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ forecast. The shipping company experienced a surge in deliveries amid the coronavirus lockdown.

While the market bounced sharply from its March lows, the recent spikes in coronavirus cases in some states kept investors on edge. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday that if the outbreak continues at its current pace, daily new cases could surpass 100,000 new infections per day.

So far, more than 12 states have now paused or rolled back their reopenings as cases in the U.S. jumped 40% over the past week to an average of about 39,750 on Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“We continue to expect it to be an uneven process, albeit with a positive trajectory,” Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services, said in a note. “The good news is through this digestion period, markets are working off some of the excesses that had built up, and elevated expectations are being reset.”

Investors will monitor the pace of recovery in the U.S. labor market. ADP will release its private payroll count for June on Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect an increase of 2.50 million after a 2.76 million decline in May.

On the corporate front, Macy’s is set to report its quarterly earnings before the bell on Wednesday.

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