US stock futures tread water as investors wait for Big Tech earnings, while oil rises to multiyear highs

US stock futures tread water as investors wait for Big Tech earnings, while oil rises to multiyear highs

US stocks were roughly flat as investors waited for earnings from the likes of Facebook, Amazon and Apple, while Brent crude futures climbed to their highest levels since 2018 on concerns supply is likely to stay tight. Futures on the and the were about flat. futures rose 0.2% as of 6:45 a.m. ET, suggesting a muted open later. Investors are bracing for third-quarter earnings from , which on Monday kicks off quarterly reports from the megacap techs. and results are due Tuesday, with and updates on Thursday. Last week, after the messaging app maker warned that Apple's changes to iPhone privacy settings would hit its digital advertising business. Investors will watch for whether other ad-reliant techs sound the same alarm. Also on deck are quarterly reports from Visa, General Electric and other big names, with a total of 165 companies in the S&P 500 due to report this week, according to Deutsche Bank. But persistent concerns over growth and inflation have turned talk back to the Federal Reserve's plans to taper - seen as very likely to be announced next week. That is weighing on markets, analysts said. "Inflation will remain heavily in focus for markets over the week ahead,