S&P 500 hits record high as investors prepare for blue-chip earnings reports

• US stocks hovered near record highs on Tuesday as investors awaited earnings reports from tech giants. The S&P 500 hit an intraday all-time peak in early trading.
• Microsoft is slated to report fiscal second-quarter results when the market closes. Apple and Tesla will report figures on Wednesday.
• Retail traders continued to bid up GameStop, BlackBerry, and other favorites through volatile, Reddit-fueled momentum trades.
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US equities gained on Tuesday as investors awaited a slew of earnings reports from large-cap companies. The benchark S&P 500 hit an intraday all-time peak in early trading.

Market volatility lingered following a choppy Monday session. Tech names dragged slightly on the Nasdaq composite after leading gains to start the week. Microsoft will kick off tech earnings after the market closes.

Sentiments were somewhat pared as hopes for swift stimulus passage under President Joe Biden faded. The president said Monday he's willing to negotiate with Republicans on the package, yet GOP members have largely balked at his plan's $1.9 trillion price tag. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated on Monday that new stimulus isn't likely to be passed until March at the earliest.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 3,865.28, up 0.3%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 31,091.39, up 0.4% (131 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,671.95, up 0.3%

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Apple, Tesla, and Facebook are slated to report earnings later in the week. The companies' heavy weighting in stock indexes practically guarantees their reports will play a major role in whether the broader market will rise or tumble into February.

Johnson & Johnson and General Electric both gained after reporting better-than-expected quarterly figures Tuesday morning. Verizon slid after subscriber additions landed below Wall Street expectations.

Retail investors pushed Reddit-favorites including GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and BlackBerry even higher following Monday's rallies. Posts on online forums such as WallStreetBets boasting outsized gains have fueled momentum for such stocks in recent sessions. Online traders continue to urge each other to buy more shares, aiming to further squeeze short-sellers and send stocks to record highs.

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Bitcoin slipped back below $32,000 after brushing against $35,000 in Monday trading. The cryptocurrency has wavered in a narrow trading range over the past week after surging to record highs earlier in the month.

Spot gold edged 0.02% higher, to $1,855.60 per ounce. The US dollar weakened slightly against Group-of-20 currency peers and Treasury yields climbed slightly.

Oil prices gained. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 0.91%, to $53.25 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, climbed 0.82%, to $56.34 per barrel.

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