U.S. stock futures edged higher on Monday, as investors looked ahead to a week that will deliver important inflation and employment data, following a cautious view from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week.
How are stock-index futures trading?
-
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.12%
rose 4.25 points, or less than 0.1%, to 4,417 -
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.21%
rose 55 points, or 0.1%, to 34,432 -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
+0.21%
rose 24.5 points, or 0.1%, to 15,004
Stocks rebounded on Friday, with the Dow industrials
DJIA
climbing 247.48 points, or 0.7%, to close at 34,346.90, the S&P 500
SPX
rising 0.7%, to finish at 4,405.71 and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP
advanced 0.9%, to end at 13,590.65.
For the week, the Dow fell 0.4%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and the Nasdaq rose by 2.3%, respectively, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The latter two snapped three-week losing streaks, while the Dow fell a second straight week.
What’s driving markets?
Investors were set to pick up where they left off Friday, when stocks gained after Powell said the jury was still out on whether inflation and a strong U.S. economy needed to be tempered, but that monetary policy would proceed cautiously.
“In the end, it did not change the needle much,” said Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Dankse Bank, in a note to clients. “Those believing in a Fed pivot early next year still have arguments to do so, and vice versa. Hence, equities finally rose with U.S. equities particularly strong.”
“More importantly, Powell did not say anything to hinder investor appetite for large cap growth stocks. Consumer discretionary and tech outperformed, large cap outperformed small cap and growth were generally preferred over value,” said von Mehren.
The central bank will be paying close attention to the data set to be released, with its preferred inflation measure, the July personal consumption expenditure index, due on Thursday, followed by August payrolls data on Friday.
The month of August is also winding down, with the S&P 500 down 3.9% and poised for its first monthly loss since February, as the summer has seen the 2023 rally for stocks stall amid a cooling of tech stocks. Down over 5% for August so far, the Nasdaq Composite is also set for its first monthly loss since February.
Elsewhere, Treasury yields
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
were softer with that of the 10-year note down 1 basis point to 4.222%.
Meanwhile in China, stocks climbed after the Finance Ministry and the country’s stock market regulator rolled out measures to spark buying interest in stocks, such as a halving of a tax on stock trades and limiting sales by big shareholders in companies that haven’t handed out enough dividends.
China’s CSI 300
XX:000300
climbed more than 1%, though shares of indebted property developer China Evergrande Group
EGRNF,
tumbled 78% in Hong Kong after a return to trading after more than a year.
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