Dow Jones Today: S&P 500 Futures Slip After 6 Straight Days of Gains for Benchmark Index; UnitedHealth, Home Depot Rise to Boost Dow

Stock futures are pointing to a mixed open for major U.S. indexes on Tuesday as the S&P 500 aims to extend its winning streak to seven consecutive sessions. 

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently down 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose fractionally. The major indexes closed slightly higher on Monday after shaking off early declines sparked by news that Moody’s had downgraded its rating on U.S. government debt.

The Dow was getting a boost this morning as shares of Home Depot (HD) and UnitedHealth (UNH) each gained more than 2%. Home Depot moved higher after the home improvement retailer reported first-quarter revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, while UnitedHealth continued to rebound from a sell-off last week spurred by the departure of its CEO and reports that the health insurer faces a DOJ investigation.

Mega-cap technology stocks, which have been at the forefront of the recent rally for U.S. stocks, were mostly lower this morning, though the declines were modest.  Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) were each down less than 1%. Shares of EV maker Tesla (TSLA), which have gained ground in each of the past four weeks, were up more than 1% this morning, while Alphabet (GOOG) rose slightly.  

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer and business loans, was at 4.48% in recent trading, unchanged from yesterday’s close. The yield shot up to 4.56% early Monday, its highest intraday level in more than a month, as investors digested the Moody’s downgrade.

Bitcoin was at $104,000, little changed from its levels late Monday afternoon. The digital currency surged to just under $107,000 overnight, not far from its record high of about $109,000 set in January.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was holding steady at 100.45.

Gold futures were up 0.2% at $3,240 an ounce, adding to the previous session’s gains. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, slipped 0.3% to $62.55.