US stock futures on Monday signaled a cautious start, as investors awaited a barrage of earnings and pivotal economic news with major indexes reaching or near record levels.
What is happening
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures YM00,
-0.05%
It fell 69 points, or 0.2%, to 38,189. -
S&P 500 futures ES00,
+0.05%
It fell 4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,913. -
Nasdaq 100 Futures NQ00,
+0.20%
It increased 17 points, or 0.1%, to 17,544.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points, or 0.16%, to 38,109, the S&P 500 SPX fell 3 points, or 0.07%, to 4,891, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 55 points, or 0.36%, to 15,455.
Friday marked the fifth record close this year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as the S&P 500 finished just a tenth below its all-time high.
What drives the markets?
It's a huge earnings week with results due from Microsoft MSFT,
apple apple,
google alphabet,
amazon amzn,
and META meta platforms,
In a week that also includes the Fed's interest rate decision, jobs market data and the Treasury Department's quarterly refunds.
“For the data-driven Fed, which still needs to regain its credibility in fighting inflation, a likely response would be to continue to steer clear of rate cuts in March, but also remind us that the Fed will be prepared to act if necessary – “We should also expect to get more meat on the bone in terms of timing,” said Richard de Chazal, macro analyst at William Blair. [quantitative tightening] tapering program.”
De Chazal added that earnings so far haven't been very impressive — earnings for the 124 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far are up 2.3% versus expectations for a 1.2% increase, which is less than the average gap of 4.4 percentage points.
There are also geopolitical concerns after an attack that killed three American soldiers and injured 34 others in Jordan. CL00 oil futures,
It was trading at less than $78 per barrel, while gold GC00,
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note (BX:TMUBMUSD10Y) rose. Yields move in the opposite direction to prices.
