S&P Futures Lower After Lengthy Win Streak

Stock futures tied to the S&P 500 were slightly lower early Wednesday as traders prepared for a blast of economic data to wrap up a tumultuous month of trading.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials forged ahead 70 points, or 0.2% to 40,728.Futures for the broader index were down 5.61 points to 5,578.25Futures for the NASDAQ Composite fell 51.75 points, or 0.3%, to 19,590.25. Investors will be watching for key earnings reports from Meta Platforms and Microsoft, due in the afternoon.The major averages ended Tuesday higher after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick informed the media that the White House was close to announcing a trade deal, but didn’t name the country. Later in the afternoon, President Donald Trump said that tariff negotiations with India are “coming along great” and that the U.S. could soon strike an agreement with the nation.April has been a rocky month for markets. Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariff announcement on April 2 set off a bout of volatile trading, but the major averages have been gradually narrowing the month’s losses. Consider that the S&P 500 briefly entered a bear market on April 7 but has since made a comeback, and is down just 0.9% this month. The Dow is on pace for a 3.5% loss in April, while the NASDAQ is about 0.9% higher.In Japan resumed trading Wednesday after a Tuesday holiday, with the Nikkei 225 gaining 0.6%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng edged up 0.5%.Oil prices slid 51 cents to $59.91 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices faltered $48.50 to $3,285.20 U.S. an ounce.