U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday, poised to recoup some losses following a turbulent trading week, as investors prepared for key corporate earnings and the final phase before the November 5 presidential election.
Dow E-minis were up 186 points, or 0.44%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 30 points, or 0.51%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 134.25 points, or 0.65%.
The main focus was on events in the week ahead, most notably corporate results, with around 169 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report through the week.
That includes the bulk of the “Magnificent Seven” group of mega-cap technology giants that have been Wall Street’s biggest drivers this year, as equities rallied to all-time highs.
EV maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged after its upbeat earnings, lifting optimism that other megacaps could meet investors’ lofty expectations.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) rose 1.8%, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) was up 1.1%, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was 0.8% higher, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) gained 0.2% and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) added 0.8% in premarket trading, ahead of their results later in the week.
The companies jointly make up about 23% of the S&P 500’s weightage, and investor reaction to their results will be a key determining factor in whether indexes continue to climb or retreat.
AI-chip heavyweight Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) rose 1.1%. It had briefly become the world’s most valuable company on Friday, with its market capitalization creeping ahead of Apple’s.
Israel’s response to an Iranian missile attack earlier this month focused, so far, on missile factories and other sites near Tehran, rather than on refineries or nuclear targets, assuaging some worries about the situation in the region.
An uptick in yields in the past week unsettled equities and saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snap their six-week winning streaks as investors increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to be less dovish than initially expected with data pointing to continued strength in the U.S. economy.
Economic data due this week will be crucial for that assessment, with the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures index – the Fed’s preferred inflation measure – as well as the first release of third-quarter GDP data and the crucial nonfarm payrolls report.
Investors all but expect a 25-basis point rate reduction at the U.S. central bank’s next meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch.
“Even though we strongly favor the Fed cutting two more times this year, this week’s data may not substantially alter the pricing of just 39 basis points of further Fed easing this year,” ING analysts said.
Focus was also on the November 5 U.S. presidential election, with markets more broadly pricing in a second Donald Trump administration.
On Monday, markets seemed largely undeterred by rising Treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose as high as 4.292%.
Futures tracking the economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 0.5%.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares rose 1% after the planemaker launched a stock offering that could raise up to $19 billion in a bid to shore up its finances amid an ongoing worker strike.
Shares of oil companies fell as crude prices slumped 5%, with Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) losing 2% and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) dropping 2.4%.
(Source: Reuters)
