Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Monday, extending the rally seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 137 points.
The markets may continue to benefit from optimism the Federal Reserve will signal a slowdown in monetary policy tightening following its meeting next week.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points next week, but traders are hopeful the central bank will indicate plans to slow the pace of rates hikes beginning in December.
The optimism partly stems from a Wall Street Journal report suggesting some Fed officials have expressed greater unease with the aggressive pace of rate hikes.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.
A report on personal income and spending that includes a reading on inflation said the preferred by the Fed is likely to be in focus in the coming days.
Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on consumer confidence, new home sales, and durable goods orders and third quarter GDP.
Earnings news may also drive trading this week, with Coca-Cola (KO), General Electric (GE), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), McDonald’s (MCD), Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) among a slew of big-name companies due to report their quarterly results.
Stocks saw significant volatility in early trading on Friday but moved sharply higher over the course of the session. The major averages more than offset the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, with the Dow reaching its best closing level in over a month.
The major averages reached new highs for the session late in the trading day. The Dow soared 748.97 points or 2.5 percent to 31,082.56, the Nasdaq surged 244.87 points or 2.3 percent to 10,859.72 and the S&P 500 spiked 86.97 points or 2.4 percent to 3,752.75.
With the strong upward move on the day, the major averages also moved sharply higher for the week. The Nasdaq skyrocketed by 5.2 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 shot up by 4.9 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 2.0 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plummeted by 6.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has edged up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are jumping by 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.87 to $83.18 a barrel after climbing $0.54 to $85.05 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $19.50 to $1,656.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $3 to $1,653.30 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 149.01 yen versus the 147.65 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $0.9845 compared to last Friday’s $0.9862.
Business News
U.S. Stocks May Extend Last Friday’s Rally In Early Trading
2022-10-24 12:46:04
