US stock futures mostly moved higher on Tuesday as tech hopes offset Trump worries, with a slide in UnitedHealth (UNH) dragging on the Dow and Wall Street weighing a long-awaited India-EU trade deal.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose 0.3%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) climbed 0.7%. But Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) dropped roughly 0.3% on the heels of gains for Wall Street indexes.

Trade drama gripped markets, schooled by the Greenland crisis to stay alert even with a packed earnings roster and Federal Reserve meeting on deck. After almost two decades of stop-go trade talks, the EU said it had clinched the "mother of all deals" with India. The move to deepen economic ties is seen as a rebuff to President Trump's aggressive tariffs — the latest being a threat late Monday to raise levies on South Korean imports such as autos to 25% from 15%.

Back on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) is poised for fresh record highs as upbeat news from memory chipmakers helped lift optimism for tech on the eve of key megacap earnings reports. "Magnificent Seven" members Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) are set to release results on Wednesday, followed by Apple (AAPL) on Thursday.

But the Dow (^DJI) lagged as heavyweight UnitedHealth's stock slumped before the bell, down over 10%. Shares in major insurers tumbled after the Trump administration proposed keeping Medicare payment rates for roughly steady for next year, far below the hike expected by Wall Street.

UnitedHealth is set to report quarterly results on Tuesday, with reports from American Airlines (AAL) and Boeing (BA) also due. General Motors (GM) posted a fourth quarter earnings beat before the bell, as it raised its dividend and announced a $6 billion share buyback plan.

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting, which will bring its first policy decision of the year. While it is widely expected to hold the benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, markets are watching for signals on the timing of future rate cuts. Updated readings on consumer confidence and home prices due later will give insight into the economic backdrop to those deliberations.

Meanwhile, a potential government shutdown is looming as Senate Democrats attempt to block a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. The political pushback follows the fatal shooting by federal agents of Alex Pretti, an American citizen, in Minneapolis.

Cloudflare (NET) stock rose 9% before the bell on Tuesday following the launch of its new AI assistant called Clawdbot.

Salesforce (CRM) stock edged higher on Tuesday by 2% following news that the Army signed a $5.6 billion contract with the company. The deal is for 10-years and would give the military access to the company's technology.

Intel (INTC) stock rose 3% during premarket hours on Tuesday after falling last week following its earnings report. The chipmaker's stock has been down almost 10% over the last five days.

Fat Brands Inc. (FAT), the owner of Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks restaurants, saw its stock sink by 40% before the bell on Tuesday after filing for bankruptcy.

Bloomberg News reports:

The Beverly Hills-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, court documents show. The company has around $1.45 billion of funded debt obligations outstanding, according to a court filing from FAT Brands’ chief restructuring officer dated Jan. 27.

The step came after FAT Brands didn’t make interest payments due in October on some of its $1.2 billion in whole-business securitization debt. Creditors then called for a full and immediate repayment of that total amount, saying the failure to pay constituted a default. According to the declaration, a group of creditors indicated they would issue a notice of foreclosure on the collateral absent a Chapter 11 filing.

Read more here.

From Bloomberg:

The European Union and India concluded a free trade agreement after nearly two decades of negotiations, as both sides seek to deepen economic ties and offset the impact of Washington’s tariff policies.

“We have concluded the mother of all deals,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X on Tuesday. “We have created a free trade zone of two billion people, with both sides set to benefit.” Von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa are in New Delhi to mark the moment.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who announced the conclusion earlier in the day, said the agreement would strengthen India’s manufacturing and services sectors while boosting investor confidence in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The deal is expected to double EU goods exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6% of EU goods exports to India, according to a European Commission press release on Tuesday. These products range from automobiles and industrial goods to wine, chocolates and pasta. Meanwhile, the EU will eliminate or reduce tariffs on 99.5% of goods imported from India over seven years, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

The conclusion of negotiations after years of halting talks reflects the rapidly shifting global alignment under US President Donald Trump. The EU, despite long clashing with Indian officials over trade matters, is now focused on shedding its economic reliance on the US and China. India is similarly trying to shake its protectionist reputation and offset a 50% Trump tariff, while at the same time balance its ties with Russia.

Read more here.

Add another bullish Wall Street call on gold into the mix.

Deutsche Bank's Michael Hsueh on the yellow metal in an early morning note:

\\"Gold's continued rise reflects investment motives which may be persistent: higher reserve allocations, and investors raising allocations to non-dollar and real assets. We think USD 6,000/oz is achievable with a weaker dollar this year.\\"

Shares of Micron Technology (MU) popped in premarket after the US memory chipmaker said it plans to invest $24 billion in building a new NAND facility in Singapore.

The plan to expand Micron's manufacturing capability comes amid an acute AI demand-driven memory chip shortage that has hit a swathe of industries.

Reuters reports:

The news comes amid an industry scramble to build AI infrastructure that has left sectors from consumer electronics to AI service providers ‌battling a severe scarcity of all types of memory chips.

Micron said the new investment to build an advanced wafer fabrication facility over the next decade will help it meet growing market demand for NAND memory chips, fuelled by the rise of AI and data-centric applications.

... The HBM chip packaging facility in Singapore is on track to contribute to ​supply in 2027, it added on Tuesday.

Analysts said the memory supply shortfall could run through late ‌2027, although the chipmaker and its main rivals, South Korea's Samsung (005930.KS, SSNLF) and SK Hynix (000660.KS, HXSCL), plan new production lines and are advancing dates to start production.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) rose, holding above $5,000 an ounce for a second day, as a weak US dollar helped to extend a blistering rally fueled by geopolitical risks and investor flight from sovereign bonds and currencies.

Bullion jumped as much as 1.4% on Tuesday, its seventh straight day of gains. President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on South Korean goods, and a key measure of the dollar sank on Monday on mounting speculation the US may help Japan to support the yen, making precious metals cheaper for most buyers. Silver climbed more than 7%.

Gold’s dramatic rally – the metal has more than doubled over the last two years – drives home bullion’s historic role as a gauge of fear in markets. Fresh from its best annual performance since 1979, it’s gained a further 17% so far this year due largely to the so-called debasement trade, whereby investors retreat from currencies and Treasuries. A massive selloff in the Japanese bond market is the latest example of investors rejecting heavy fiscal spending.

Read more here.

Extended trading has seen stocks across a range of health insurers plummet. The drop has been sparked by a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that payment year-over-year will increase by an average 0.09% for 2027. This keeps payments relatively flat in a move well below Wall Street expectations.

Humana (HUM) saw its stock value fall 12.5% following the payment rate announcement.

CVS Health (CVS) stock sank over 10% before settling at a 9.4% loss.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) shares dropped 8.6% with earnings for the beleaguered company due before the open on Tuesday. The drop is expected to weight down on the Dow Jones (^DJI) when trading resumes.

The Wall Street Journal has reported on the CMS rate over the past week, with an examination into health insurer billing revealing that government watchdogs have been concerned over pay practices in the health insurance industry.