U.S. stock futures point to Wall Street holding near 10-month highs as expectations firm that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates this month.
How are stock-index futures trading
-
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.02%
rose 2 points, or less than 0.1% to 4290 -
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
-0.08%
gained 49 points, or 0.1% to 33866 -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
-0.10%
eased 21 points, or 0.1% to 14554
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 701 points, or 2.12%, to 33763, the S&P 500
SPX,
increased 61 points, or 1.45%, to 4282, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 140 points, or 1.07%, to 13241.
What’s driving markets
The S&P 500 on Monday was looking to consolidate at its best level since last August, having rallied in recent sessions on the removal of U.S. debt default fears and hopes that the labor market shows an economy that can avoid a sharp slowdown in the face of the Federal Reserve’s inflation battle.
The Wall Street barometer surged 1.45% on Friday after data showed the U.S created a much more than expected net 339,000 jobs in May, but with wage growth cooling and the unemployment rate rising that may allow the Fed to pause its rate-hiking cycle in June.
“Markets powered ahead at the end of the week, with investors reacting to both the avoidance of a U.S. debt default and a selectively positive non-farm payrolls report,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: “Markets appear poised to ride last week’s upward momentum as bubbly risk appetite finds a comfort pillow in hopes for a U.S. soft landing after Congress approved a debt ceiling deal and as bullish sentiment coalesces around June skip by the Fed.”
Traders are now pricing in a 78% chance that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged at a range of 5% to 5.25% after its meeting on June 14.
The U.S. market’s jump to fresh highs for the year triggered a positive start to the week in Asia, where sentiment was also supported by news that China’s services sector grew by more than expected in May.
A rise in oil prices after Saudi Arabia said it would trim its production by 1 million barrels a day seemed to be having little impact on broader market sentiment.
U.S. financials may be in focus later after The Wall Street Journal reported that big banks may face a 20% increase in capital requirements as regulators look to shore up the sector in the wake of regional bank failures earlier in the year.
U.S. economic updates set for release on Monday include the S&P U.S. services PMI for May at 9:45 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by factory orders for April and the ISM services report for May. All times Eastern.
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