Futures muted ahead of Fed meet this week; First Republic Bank shares tank

U.S. stock index futures were muted on Monday as investor focus shifted to the Federal Reserve’s policy decision expected this week, while regulators said First Republic Bank has been seized and a deal agreed to sell the bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) registered a second consecutive monthly gain on Friday, with upbeat reports from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) boosting hopes of a strong earnings season even as worries of a U.S. economic slowdown lingered.

Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 1.9% from a year earlier, compared with a 5.1% fall expected at the start of April, according to Refinitiv data.

However, double-digit gains in shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Microsoft and Alphabet this year have sparked a debate if the U.S. market’s biggest tech and growth names are getting too expensive.

This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.