As equities try to sustain their weeks-long surge, U.S. stock futures saw minimal movement on Sunday night after the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded a record-high on Friday, shattering its 2021 mark.
S&P 500 futures saw a minor decline, while Nasdaq-100 futures saw a minor decline. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average futures saw a 47-point, or 0.1%, decline.
The excitement surrounding artificial intelligence has been driving up stock prices, and on Friday, the Nasdaq reached a record high, becoming the final major stock index to conclude at a record high this year. Last week saw the seventh weekly rise in eight for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while the Dow finished the week in red.
“The recent rally has driven the share of market cap in stocks with extremely high valuations to levels similar to those reached during the euphoria of 2021,” David Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist, stated in a note on Friday. “But the prevalence of extreme valuations today looks far less widespread than in 2021 after adjusting for market concentration.”
Investor focus is now returning to inflation after the markets processed a stronger-than-expected earnings season and a hotter-than-expected consumer price index report.
Investors will be watching this week for hints on the future path of interest rates in the form of updates on monetary policy that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will provide to the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, data on January job vacancies and the ADP Employment Survey will be made public, offering more perspective into the labor situation. On Friday, figures on manufacturing and nonfarm payrolls for February will also be made public.
