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TECH SHARES BOOST S&P 500, NASDAQ; HEALTH INSURERS A DRAG

The S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC are higher along with shares of Apple AAPL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O ahead of those companies' quarterly reports due this week, but the Trump administration's Medicare Advantage payment proposal hit health insurer shares and weighed on the Dow.

The Dow .DJI is down about 1% in early trading.

Technology .SPLRCT is leading the sector gainers on the S&P 500, while healthcare .SPXHC and financials .SPSY are leading the decliners. Shares of UnitedHealth UNH.N are down about 18%.

Microsoft shares are up 1.4%, while Apple is up 1.8%. Both are due to report quarterly results after the bell this week.

Other gainers include United Parcel Service UPS.N after the company projected higher revenue for 2026 and General Motors GM.N, which is up more than 7% after the automaker raised its profit outlook for 2026.

It is still early in the fourth-quarter earnings season and investors are hoping strong results from tech companies will ease worries about lofty valuations.

Here is the early market snapshot:

(Caroline Valetkevitch)

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