U.S. stock index futures moved higher on Monday as investors prepared for a string of key second-quarter earnings in the coming days, with some of Wall Street’s biggest firms set to report. 

S&P 500 futures had risen by 18 points, or 0.3%, Nasdaq 100 futures rose 71 points, or 0.3%, and Dow Jones futures had climbed by 124 points, or 0.3%, by 05:24 ET (09:24 GMT).

Equities stalled near record highs on Friday as reports said President Donald Trump was pushing for a minimum 15% to 20% tariff on the European Union. Trump’s tariffs are set to take effect from August 1. 

Tesla, Alphabet to headline earnings this week

Tech titans Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are set to highlight a large slate of earnings this week. 

The two, who will report on Wednesday, are part of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" group of mega-cap tech stocks and are likely to provide trading cues for the broader market.  

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM), RTX Corp (NYSE:RTX), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN), Chubb (NYSE:CB), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), and General Motors (NYSE:GM) are set to report on Monday and Tuesday. 

A host of strong bank earnings helped keep investor spirits high last week, even as several major lenders warned of heightened economic uncertainty because of Trump’s trade tariffs. Much of the focus will now center around the impact of the levies on the operating outlook for the year.  

Wall Street hovers near record highs despite tariff uncertainty

Wall Street indexes lost some ground on Friday amid persistent concerns over Trump’s trade tariffs. A report said that Trump was still considering a 15% to 20% baseline levy on the European Union.

The EU, for its part, has reportedly been pushing for the current 10% baseline U.S. duty on imports from the bloc to remain in effect.

Trump has outlined steep "reciprocal" tariffs against several major economies, which are all set to take effect from August 1. While the White House has signaled that trade negotiations are ongoing, the U.S. has so far struck a substantially smaller number of trade deals than Trump had promised earlier this year. 

Concerns over the economic impact of higher tariffs kept investors on edge, and helped pull the main U.S. stock averages off record highs hit last week. 

Oil prices slip

Elsehwere, oil prices inched down, swayed by concerns over the impact of trade tensions on demand and the effect of European sanctions on Russian crude supplies.

Brent crude futures had dipped by 0.6% to $68.89 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 0.5% to $65.74 a barrel by 05:25 ET.

Last week, the EU approved a fresh set of measures against Russia over the longstanding conflict in Ukraine. The latest package particularly targeted India’s Nayara Energy, which exports oil products refined from Russian crude.

Analysts at ING flagged that the market had a muted reaction to the sanctions, arguing that traders are "not convinced" by their effectiveness.

But they said: "The part of the package likely to have the biggest market impact is the EU imposing an import ban on refined oil products processed from Russian oil in third countries."