U.S. stock futures are signaling a mostly stagnant start for Wall Street on Monday, with investors gearing up for a data-heavy week while seeking fresh drivers to propel the market upwards following a recent boost from Nvidia.
Here’s how the stock-index futures are trading:
- S&P 500 futures (ES00, -0.05%) are down 2.7 points to 5,098.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00, -0.08%) have slipped by 49 points, or 0.1%, to 39,139.
- Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00, -0.02%) are showing a minor decline of 0.75 points, reaching 17,991.50.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 62.42 points, or 0.2%, to close at 39,131.53, while the S&P 500 achieved a marginal increase of 1.77 points, reaching an all-time closing high of 5,088.80. However, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 44.80 points, or 0.3%, ending at 15,996.82.
The past week witnessed all three major indexes posting gains of over 1%.
Market Dynamics:
Last Thursday’s significant market surge, fueled by Nvidia’s exceptional results, was followed by a more subdued session on Friday. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 managed to notch up another record closing high.
Charalampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at XM, observed, “This likely suggests that as the earnings season winds down, market participants are slowly turning their attention back to monetary policy. Anything confirming the view that Fed officials are not eager to commence interest rate cuts could result in a corrective retreat.”
The upcoming week holds several crucial data releases, including the first revision to fourth-quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday and the core reading of the personal-consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation metric, on Thursday.
Deutsche Bank’s strategists, led by Jim Reid, commented, “Our economists believe the MoM (month-on-month) core print will be at 0.36% vs. 0.17% last time. This would make it the highest since last January. The fact that last January was 0.51% means that rolling out base effects should help the YoY rate edge down a tenth to 2.8%. However it’s the monthly print that will be all important.”
Monday will also witness the release of new home sales for January, scheduled for 10 a.m. Additionally, appearances by several Fed speakers will be scattered throughout the week.
