US stock futures traded mixed early Monday to start the last week of another successful quarter on Wall Street.
Futures tied to the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) were up around 0.1%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) hovered just below the flatline. Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures rose 0.3%.
Stocks are hoping to add a punchline to what’s been a high-flying quarter thus far. The S&P 500 is up around 4.5% this quarter, and the Nasdaq has surged around 8% on the back of an AI-driven rally.
That rally, however, showed signs of fatigue to end last week. Nvidia (NVDA), so far 2024’s darling of Wall Street, lost ground after reaching fresh all-time highs toward the end of the week. Those losses looked set to continue early Monday, with the stock down around 2% in premarket trading.
The macroeconomic front, as well as renewed focus on the US political scene, could grab more of the spotlight this week. On the latter point, US President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump are set for their first debate Thursday evening. Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul has a good primer on what to watch from a US economic perspective.
And then: inflation. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index will be released on Friday morning. This index contains the “core” PCE measure, which is most closely watched by the Federal Reserve.
Economists expect core PCE rose just 0.1% last month, which would be the slowest monthly rise since last November. Such a print would add to a string of recent positive data that could ease Fed policymakers’ concerns about rate cuts this year. Traders expect the Fed to begin cuts in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Live1 update
