Wall St futures mixed as health insurers slip on Medicare plan; Fed meet looms

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday evening, with Dow futures slipping on a policy proposal from the Trump administration, while investors awaited a key Federal Reserve decision and heavyweight technology earnings.

S&P 500 Futures traded largely flat at 9,982.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.2% to 25,898.2 points by 19:54 ET (00:54 GMT). Dow Jones Futures were trading 0.3% lower at 49,409.0 points.

In regular trading, Wall St indices closed higher, with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.6%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.5%, and NASDAQ Composite adding 0.4%.

Trump admin proposes flat rates for Medicare advantage
Dow futures fell modestly after several large health insurers dropped sharply in extended trading. The move followed a proposal by the Trump administration to set near-flat payment rates for Medicare Advantage plans, disappointing markets that had expected a more generous increase.

Shares of Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM), and CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), which operates Aetna, fell steeply after hours as investors warned that slower reimbursement growth could pressure margins in a business facing rising medical costs.

In other moves, President Donald Trump said he is raising tariffs on South Korean imports to 25% from 15%, accusing Seoul’s legislature of failing to approve a bilateral trade deal reached last year.

Fed decision, megacap earnings loom
Markets were largely in wait-and-see mode ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, with policymakers seen to assess the impact of easing financial conditions, cooling inflation trends, and a labor market that has shown signs of gradual moderation.

Recent data has reinforced expectations that the Fed will avoid signaling near-term cuts, as officials seek greater confidence that inflation will move sustainably toward their 2% target.

Investors will scrutinize the Fed’s statement and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference for clues on the timing and pace of potential rate cuts later in the year.

Attention is also firmly on earnings from the so-called “Magnificent Seven,” which are expected to set the tone for U.S. equities.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are all due to report results on Wednesday, while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is scheduled to release earnings on Thursday.

The results come after a strong but increasingly selective rally in technology shares, driven by optimism around artificial intelligence, cloud spending and productivity gains.

Market participants will focus on commentary from the megacaps around AI-related investment returns, consumer demand trends, and margin pressures from higher costs.