S&P 500 futures are flat as investors weigh Apple earnings; U.S. midterm elections loom: Live updates

Dow futures slid 0.5% early Tuesday while S&P 500 futures traded mixed, as investors digested Apple's quarterly earnings report and braced for U.S. midterm elections.

The setup follows a rough start to November. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both opened the month with losses as investors sold tech stocks. Apple's report landed into that tape, and the muted, split reaction in index futures suggests traders are not yet willing to make a decisive directional bet on the print alone.

The divergence is notable: Dow futures carried the clearest downside signal at 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures failed to pick a direction. That is interpretation rather than reported fact, but the pattern points to a market hedging around two overlapping catalysts, a megacap earnings reaction and an election outcome that has yet to be decided.

The tech selloff that opened the month is the backdrop that matters most for Apple. With the Nasdaq Composite already under pressure, any weakness in the stock would reinforce the sector rotation out of tech that traders saw in the first session of November. Any strength would test whether that selling has run its course.