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Futures: Dow up 0.04%, S&P 500 up 0.03%, Nasdaq down 0.01%

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Fluor gains after reports Starboard has taken nearly 5%

stake

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Health insurers rise after upbeat results from Elevance

(Updates with analyst comments, prices before the opening bell)

By Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street looked poised for a calm

start on Tuesday, with futures trimming earlier losses as

investors assess a wave of largely positive earnings from

corporate giants.

At 08:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 17 points, or

0.04%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 1.75 points, or

0.01%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 1.75 points, or

0.03%.

Earnings season kicked into high gear on Tuesday, with a

flurry of corporate results setting the tone. General Motors ( GM )

surged 11.2% in premarket trade after a brighter tariff

outlook helped the automaker raise its full-year guidance.

Peer Ford rose 2.7%, with investors eyeing its results

due on Thursday.

In consumer staples, Coca-Cola gained 2.7%,

refreshing investor sentiment with a better-than-expected third

quarter on both revenue and profit, driven by unwavering demand

for its sodas.

Philip Morris ( PM ) rose 1.4% after hiking its annual

profit forecast for the third time this year.

In the defense sector, GE Aerospace gained 2.5% after

raising its full-year profit forecast, while Lockheed Martin ( LMT )

and RTX upgraded their full-year profit and

revenue estimates. Their shares rose 1% and 4.9%, respectively.

Among health insurers, Elevance beat profit

expectations, sending its shares higher and lifting peers

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) and Humana.

Northrop Grumman ( NOC ), however, slipped 1.3% after

trimming its sales outlook.

Heavyweights such as Tesla, IBM ( IBM ), Procter &

Gamble ( PG ) and Intel ( INTC ) are scheduled to report their

earnings this week. Netflix ( NFLX ), which is due to report

results after market close, rose 0.6%.

However, analysts caution strong earnings alone may not be

enough to keep the rally alive as valuations are already

stretched and indexes are flirting with record highs. Investors

are zeroing in on margin resilience and forward guidance,

especially as trade tensions linger and inflation remains

sticky.

"It could disappoint investors if companies don't actually

beat the estimates by a large amount, even though these

estimates are already huge," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market

analyst at Capital.com.

"Clearly there's no desire to be a seller right now because

everyone's expecting the earnings season to be good."

Regional bank earnings are also in focus to get a closer

read on the sector's health after fears of systemic stress

sparked a selloff last week.

All three major indexes had closed with gains of more than

1% on Monday, marking their best day in over a week, fueled by

AI-driven optimism and upbeat earnings expectations.

Markets also received a boost after White House economic

adviser Kevin Hassett said on Monday the U.S. government

shutdown was likely to end this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump also struck a positive tone on

trade, saying he expects to reach a "fair deal" with Chinese

President Xi Jinping, with whom he is expected to meet on the

sidelines of next week's economic summit in South Korea, while

downplaying tensions over Taiwan.

Among other stocks, Fluor jumped 5.3%, after reports

said activist investor Starboard Value had taken a nearly 5%

stake in the construction firm.