S&P futures exhibited minimal movement on Monday, maintaining a steady course after another successful week, as market participants anticipate the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a decline of 6 points. S&P 500 futures increased by 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures saw a rise of 0.2%. Monday’s activity follows a second consecutive week of positive performance for the three major indexes. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite experienced increases of 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively, over the course of the week.
The S&P 500 experienced an increase of approximately 0.3% last week, positioning the broad index roughly 0.7% below its all-time intraday peak. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq achieved four consecutive days of gains on Friday, whereas the Dow has recorded positive performance in three of the last four sessions. On Friday, stocks experienced an uplift following the postponed publication of September’s core personal consumption expenditures price index, which was softer than economists had forecasted. This represented one of the final significant economic indicators prior to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting scheduled for this week.
Market participants have become progressively optimistic in recent weeks regarding the possibility of the Federal Reserve reducing interest rates during the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the last of the calendar year. The pricing of Fed funds futures indicates an approximately 88% likelihood of a decrease, a notable increase from just below 67% a month prior, as per sources. “Markets are appropriately focused on an interest rate cut or hold coming out of … [the] FOMC meeting,” stated Eric Freedman. However, “investors are perhaps more interested in dynamics surrounding voting-member outlooks and future Fed leadership.”
On Monday, there is a lack of significant economic data; however, the New York Fed will publish its survey of consumer expectations in the morning. Investors will monitor earnings reports from companies including Lululemon, Costco, Broadcom, Oracle, and Adobe scheduled for this week.