Market digest: earnings and Fed rate decision

What happened: U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) up 0.3%, S&P 500 (ES=F) adding 0.2%, and Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) gaining 0.1%. This was ahead of an inflation reading and a slew of earnings, including from major tech companies like Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN). Last week, markets navigated a hawkish Federal Reserve meeting, volatile chip stocks, and Big Tech earnings, with the Dow and S&P 500 posting weekly gains of 1% and 1.5%, respectively.

Market impact: The earnings season, with this week being the busiest by market cap, and the upcoming Fed rate decision are driving market movements. Rate hike bets are pushing stocks higher, particularly tech, as lower rates make growth stocks more attractive. Earnings from companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Microsoft (MSFT) last week beat expectations, boosting sentiment.

What to watch next: Investors await the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data on Thursday, which could influence Fed rate hike expectations. Earnings season continues with key reports from companies like Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) due this week. The Fed's interest rate decision on Wednesday, March 22, will also be closely watched for clues on future monetary policy.