Steady as She Goes: U.S. Stock Futures Hold Ground Ahead of Data Onslaught

U.S. stock futures are indicating a mostly flat opening for Wall Street on Monday, as investors prepare for a data-packed week and seek fresh momentum to drive the market higher after Nvidia’s recent boost.

Here’s a breakdown of the current stock-index futures trading:

• S&P 500 futures (ES00, -0.05%) are down 2.7 points at 5,098.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00, -0.08%) have slipped 49 points, or 0.1%, to 39,139.
• Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00, -0.02%) are showing a slight decline of 0.75 points, reaching 17,991.50.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.42 points, or 0.2%, closing at 39,131.53, while the S&P 500 edged up 1.77 points to an all-time closing high of 5,088.80. However, the Nasdaq Composite fell 44.80 points, or 0.3%, ending at 15,996.82.

Key Market Dynamics:

After last Thursday’s significant surge driven by Nvidia’s stellar results, Friday’s session was more subdued. However, the S&P 500 managed to notch another record closing high.

Charalampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at XM, noted, “This likely suggests that as the earnings season winds down, market participants are slowly shifting focus back to monetary policy. Anything confirming the view that Fed officials are not rushing to implement interest rate cuts could result in a corrective retreat.”

The week ahead holds significant data releases, including the first revision to fourth-quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday and the core reading of the personal-consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank’s strategists, led by Jim Reid, commented, “Our economists expect the month-on-month core print to be 0.36% compared to 0.17% last time. This would be the highest since last January. Though the year-on-year rate is expected to edge down to 2.8%, it’s the monthly print that will be most crucial.”

Additionally, Monday will see the release of new home sales for January at 10 a.m., along with appearances by several Fed speakers throughout the week.