Wall Street fixed on Fed, Apple earnings

Wall Street fixed on Fed, Apple earnings

U.S. stock index futures indicated a slightly higher open on Monday as markets eyed Apple earnings and hints on monetary policy from the Federal Reserve later in the week.

The Fed are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with the conclusion and post-meeting statement due Wednesday.

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The recent string of weak data and first-quarter growth expected at around 1 percent has convinced many in the markets that the Fed will not raise interest rates until September at the earliest.

"The post-meeting statement might well take a slightly more dovish tone than of late, further supporting our view that the first rate hike will take place no sooner than September," said Chris Scicluna, executive director and head of economic research, at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe.

Major earnings on Monday include Canon (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7751.T-JP) and Restaurant Brands (Toronto Stock Exchange: QSP.UN-CA) before market open,

Restaurant Brands International (Toronto Stock Exchange: QSR-CA), the parent of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported that first-quarter revenue more than doubled compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, helped by product launches and promotions.

Investor focus will be on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) fiscal second-quarter results due after the bell.

The Street expects the Cupertino, California-based powerhouse to deliver earnings of $2.16 per share on revenue of $56.06 billion , according to analysts' estimates from Thomson Reuters. That's a 30 percent and 23 percent increase year over year, respectively.

And while Wall Street will be watching iPhone sales, investors will also be listening for an update on Apple's capital return program.

Earnings from the likes of Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) and Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII) are also expected after the market closes.

In Europe, equities turned higher on improved sentiment on Greece.

Shares of Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBK-DE) slipped 5 percent after the bank announced an overhaul of its banking operations on Monday.

Greece was also told at the weekend meeting in Latvia that it would not receive any more aid until it agrees an economic reform plan.

Reuters and CNBC's Cadie Thompson contributed to this report.



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