S&P 500 futures ticked higher on Tuesday after the major averages started the busy earnings week on a positive note. Investors are also waiting for the Federal Reserve’s rate decision, due later this week. Futures tied to the broad-market index were last seen 0.3% higher, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 107 points, or 0.2%, weighed down by a decline in UnitedHealth shares. Shares of several big-name health insurers plunged after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed raising payments to Medicare Advantage insurers by a net average of just 0.09% in 2027. Shares of Humana slid 16%, while CVS Health lost 11%. UnitedHealth shed 12.7%. President Donald Trump also said late Monday that he would raise tariffs on South Korean autos, pharmaceuticals and lumber from 15% to 25%. He cited a delay in South Korea’s legislature approving a trade deal the nation had reached with the U.S. last summer. Stocks kicked off the week strong, aided by gains in major technology names. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% in Monday’s regular session, while the Dow gained about 314 points, or 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.4% as Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft rose ahead of their earnings reports scheduled later this week. More than 90 S&P 500 companies are slated to report quarterly earnings this week. They include “Magnificent Seven” giants Meta, Tesla and Microsoft — which are due Wednesday. Apple will share its results on Thursday. Earnings season has been strong so far, with about three out of four S&P 500 companies beating expectations, per FactSet. “Top of mind is earnings season. We got 200 companies reporting in the next two weeks and so far, so good,” said Adam Parker, founder and CEO of Trivariate Research. “I think the real issue is that the second half of the year estimates are way too high. And so the question is can we keep the momentum here through April guidance? I think yes.” Looming this week is the Fed’s first policy decision of the year. The central bank is widely expected to keep its key rate at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, but traders will search for clues on when future cuts may come. Fed funds futures trading still suggests there could be two quarter percentage point cuts by the end of 2026, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. On the economic data front Tuesday, traders will be watching for the latest consumer confidence reading and home price data. The 10-year Treasury yield inched higher on Tuesday as investors awaited further economic data and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was up more than 1 basis point at 4.225%, while the 2-year Treasury note yield moved less than a basis point lower to 3.591%. The 30-year Treasury yield rose more than 1 basis point to 4.816%. South Korean markets hit fresh highs Tuesday, even after U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at the country overnight, saying he would increase tariffs on Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The Kospi reversed losses to gain 2.73%, leading Asian markets and reaching an all-time high of 5,084.85. The small-cap Kosdaq was also in positive territory, climbing 1.71% to more than a four-year high at 1,082.59. Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets were also up. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.92% and closed at 8,941.6 to its highest level in almost 3 months, after coming back from a holiday on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 reversed losses to trade 0.85% higher and finish at 53,333.54, powered by industrial and tech stocks, while the Topix rose 0.31% to 3,563.59. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.27% in its final hour of trade, with basic materials stocks driving the rise, while the CSI 300 on mainland China ended marginally down at 4,705.69. Oil prices edged up on Tuesday as a massive winter storm hit crude production and affected refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, ⁠but the rise was curbed by a resumption in supply from Kazakhstan. Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.35%, ‍at $65.82 a barrel as at 1017 ‍GMT. U.S. West Texas ‍Intermediate crude gained 29 cents, or 0.48%, to $60.92 a barrel. The U.S. is facing a loss of production in the U.S. as a severe winter storm swept across the country, straining energy infrastructure and ‌power grids. U.S. ‌oil producers lost up to 2 million barrels ​per day or roughly 15% of national production over the weekend, analysts and traders estimated. Gold climbed on Tuesday, hovering just shy of ‍the $5,100 per-ounce level breached ‍for the first time ‍in the previous session, as uncertainty around U.S. President Donald Trump’s policymaking prompted investors to seek safety in bullion. Spot gold rose 1.6% to $5,092.09 per ounce, as of 1012 GMT. ‌It ‌hit an all-time high of $5,110.50 on Monday. U.S. ​gold futures for February delivery gained 0.1% to $5,089 per ounce. Gold has surged 18% so far in 2026, building on gains from last year due to factors including sustained safe-haven demand amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty, expectations of U.S. rate cuts, and robust central bank purchases. Spot silver jumped 8.4% to $112.57 an ounce, after hitting a record high ‍of $117.69 on Monday. It has already surged more than 50% so far this year.