Traders Eye Tesla, Other Big Tech Earnings, Driving Muted Premarket Action for US Equity Futures

US equity futures were struggling for a direction ahead of Tuesday's opening bell as the Q1 earnings season kicked into high gear with quarterly updates from technology majors on tap.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.1%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla TSLA is set to be the first to report among technology sector heavyweights after this session's closing bell, followed by Meta Platforms META on Wednesday, and Alphabet GOOG and Microsoft MSFT on Thursday.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.9% and US West Texas Intermediate crude down 1%, amid easing tensions between Iran and Israel.

The flash manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, due at 9:45 am ET, is expected to come in at 52.0 for April versus 51.9 in the preceding month, while services PMI is seen coming in at 52.0 for the month versus 51.7 level previously, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.3% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.9% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.7% lower. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.2%, while Germany's DAX index rose 1.1% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Danaher DHR were 7.5% higher pre-bell after the company posted fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and sales that topped analysts' estimates. Spotify SPOT shares rose 10% after the company reported it swung to Q1 earnings on higher revenue.

On the losing side, Xerox XRX shares fell 11% after the company reported weaker Q1 financial results. JetBlue Airways JBLU shares were down 13% after the carrier posted a wider Q1 adjusted loss on lower revenue.