Sunday’s overnight trade saw a small increase in stock futures following a week of negative market activity as the 2024 surge took a break.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased by 55 points. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 both increased by 0.1%.
Last week, the 30-stock Dow dropped 2.3%, marking the lowest weekly performance since March 2023. During that time, the S&P 500 saw its largest weekly drop since early January, falling by almost 1%. With a 0.8% decline, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had its fourth losing week in a row.
Nonetheless, the market did close off last week on a high note following job data that was better than anticipated on Friday. Investors were given hope by the unexpected increase in payrolls that a robust economy could sustain the growth of corporate earnings, even if it meant higher interest rates for longer.
“Jobs and wages are rising solidly and aggregate payrolls are outpacing inflation, which will keep Americans spending in 2024 and powering the economy forward,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank.
Investors are eagerly awaiting the release of the consumer and producer price index readings for March later this week, which will provide additional insight into the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat inflation.
The Dow Jones survey of economists predicts that the CPI figure, which is out on Wednesday morning, would rise by 3.5% annually and 0.3% last month.
“The Fed seems unbothered by robust employment gains… Inflation though is a bigger issue, and it’s imperative that the Mar price data (CPI, PPI, PCE) show the disinflationary process getting back on track,” wrote Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli in a note.
Rising bond yields and oil costs are among the issues that investors are battling. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond increased by over 20 basis points to roughly 4.4% last week. U.S. crude oil reached $87 in the midst of geopolitical tension.