SPX: S&P 500 Futures Steady as Traders Enter Election Day amid Busy Earnings Schedule

Apple’s margin warning and Asian weakness keep traders cautious, while cheaper oil offers inflation relief ahead of US voting results.

🗳️ Futures tread carefully on election day

• S&P 500 futures edged up roughly 0.1% early Tuesday, following a 0.5% decline in Monday’s cash session. Nasdaq shares lost around 1%, while the Dow gained 0.4%.
• Cheaper oil helped parts of the market, but technology weakness prevented a convincing rebound across the major indexes.
• US voters decide control of Congress today, with polls favoring Democrats taking the House but not the Senate. The implications stretch from government spending to regulation and energy policy.
• Results will emerge overnight, leaving traders exposed to changing expectations rather than one scheduled announcement.
• Monday’s sector performance showed investors choosing carefully. Seven S&P 500 sectors advanced, but technology fell 2.7% and energy dropped 4%. Consumer discretionary gained around 2%.

🍎 Earnings beats face a demanding audience

• In individual stocks, Apple beat quarterly estimates, but its holiday outlook disappointed. Revenue reached $114.5 billion and earnings hit $2.10 a share.
• The world’s largest company forecast December-quarter gross margin of 45%–46%, down from 47.9%, citing higher memory costs and Siri AI expenses. Shares fell roughly 3% after hours.
• Palantir’s revenue jumped 96% to $2.3 billion, with US commercial sales rising 148% and overtaking government sales for the first time.
• Higher guidance still failed to secure a lasting positive reaction: shares slid 4% in extended trading. AMD reports tonight, providing the next major semiconductor showing.
• Marvell and Lumentum supplied another sharp reminder of valuation risk. Their shares fell about 13% and 19%, respectively, after Marvell announced a $115 billion all-stock acquisition, including debt.
• The deal puts the cost of expanding into data-center optical equipment under scrutiny during an already difficult period for chip stocks.

🌏 Global assets balance relief and risk

• Asian shares retreated, with South Korea falling as much as 4% and Taiwan losing 1.3%. Hong Kong edged higher, while Japan was closed for a holiday.
• Australia’s central bank raised rates to 4.85%, an 18-year high, but the Australian dollar dipped afterward — an expected hike offered limited support.
• Brent traded around $105 after Monday’s plunge of more than 7%. US-Iran diplomacy raised hopes of easing supply disruptions, although reports of fresh US strikes complicated that optimism.
• Gold recovered above $3,950 Monday, while the US 10-year yield stood near 4.91% early Tuesday. Bitcoin hovered near $77,100 and Ether around $2,254, with Binance reporting $4.72 billion in net customer withdrawals after its reopening.
• Beyond crypto, Tuesday brings US job openings and factory orders, followed by Wednesday’s Treasury borrowing announcement and Friday’s payrolls—plenty of catalysts alongside the election count.