Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Jan. 22, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures were relatively unchanged on Monday as traders monitored political developments and braced for a big week of key earnings reports as well as a U.S. monetary policy meeting.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures shed 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 45 points, or 0.1%.
President Donald Trump over the weekend threatened to slap a 100% tariff on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada if the country makes a trade deal with China. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in response that Ottawa has “no intention” of pursuing a free trade deal with Beijing.
“The situation remains very fluid. No one seems particularly worried about Trump’s 100% Canadian tariff threat coming to fruition (especially since Canadian officials, including Carney, insist the country isn’t negotiating a free trade deal with China), but the constant wielding of import taxes as a cudgel to pressure allies is still slowly eroding sentiment,” said Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge.
Investors were also keeping an eye on Washington, as growing outrage over federal immigration agents fatally shooting a U.S. citizen in Minnesota for the second time this month generated concerns of a potential U.S. government shutdown. Several Democratic senators said they would not approve a $1.2 trillion funding package if it includes an allotment for Homeland Security. One person familiar with Senate GOP leadership said funding for DHS would not be removed, however.
Gold prices rallied on Monday as investors sought safety amid the rising political and fiscal risks, with the metal reaching a new all-time high and surpassing $5,100 per ounce.
Those on Wall Street will be turning their attention this week to earnings as well, with more than 90 S&P 500 companies being set to post quarterly reports, including Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft. So far, the earnings season has been strong, with 76% of the companies that have reported beating expectations, per FactSet.
To be sure, some stocks still fell despite companies topping expectations, such as Intel and Netflix.
Wall Street is coming off a losing week, after increasing geopolitical tensions unnerved investors. Concerns eased toward the end of the week, with Trump announcing that a “framework” for a deal regarding Greenland had been reached. Still, the S&P 500 lost about 0.4% last week for its second straight weekly decline.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is set to announce its first policy decision of the year on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to keep its overnight rate unchanged, Wall Street will look for clues on when Fed officials will cut rates.