• Major equity indexes in the US look to open modestly lower.
• Walmart and Home Depot reported quarterly earnings ahead of the opening bell.
• Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the January policy meeting on Wednesday.

Following a three-day weekend, US stock index futures opened on a bearish note but managed to erase a portion of the earlier losses. 

At the time of press, S&P 500 futures were down 0.27%, Dow Jones futures were losing 0.28%, and Nasdaq futures were falling 0.36%.

What to know before stock market opens

• Dow Jones (DJIA) closed the previous week virtually unchanged at 38,628. S&P 500 lost 0.42% to close at 5,005.56 and Nasdaq fell 0.82% to 15,775.65.
• Retailer giant Walmart Inc. (WMT) reported an adjusted earning per share of $1.8 ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday. The company said that it expects consolidated net sales to rise in the range of 3%-4% and announced that it will buy smart-TV producer Vizio (VZIO) for about $2.3 billion.
• Home Depot Inc. (HD) said net income in Q4 was $2.8 billion and the adjusted earnings per share was $2.82. The company, however, said that if projects sales for the fiscal year 2024 to be below estimates, citing slowing demand for discretionary items such as flooring, furniture and kitchen, per Reuters. 
• The Communication Services sector ended Friday in the red by 1.56% as the worst-performing major S&P sector, followed by the Real Estate Sector that shed 0.99% by the closing bell. On the flip side, Friday's largest-gaining sector was the S&P's Materials Sector, climbing 0.51% on the day.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) was the top S&P 500 gainer on Friday, rising 6.3% to end the day at $199.57. Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR) lost 8.3%, wrapping up Friday's trading at $136.22 as the biggest decliner.
• Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW), Public Storage (PSA) and Realty Income Corp. (O) will be among the top companies that will release quarterly earnings reports after the closing bell on Tuesday.
• The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the January policy meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday, preliminary February Manufacturing and Services PMI reports for Germany, the Euro area, the UK and the US will be scrutinized by market participants. 
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand in the US rose 0.9% on a yearly basis in January. This reading followed the 1% increase recorded in December but came in above the market expectation of 0.6%. The annual Core PPI rose 2% in the same period, compared to December's increase of 1.8%. On a monthly basis, the Core PPI was up 0.5% following the 0.1% decline recorded in the previous month.
• The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index improved modestly to 79.6 in February's flash estimate from 79.0 in January. The Current Conditions Index edged lower to 81.5 from 81.9 and the Consumer Expectations Index rose to 78.4 from 77.1.
• Inflation in the US, as measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), softened to 3.1% on a yearly basis in January from 3.4% in December, the BLS reported on Tuesday. This reading came in above the market expectation of 2.9%. The Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.9% in the same period and matched December's increase, surpassing analysts' estimate of 3.7%.