Futures Pointing To Mixed Open On Wall Street

Following the mixed close seen last Friday, U.S. stock futures are pointing to another mixed performance in early trading on Monday. While the Nasdaq futures are up by 123 points, the Dow futures are down by 195 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq appears poised to reach another new record high, benefiting from strength among stocks such as Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Microsoft (MSFT)

Apple, Tesla and Microsoft are moving higher in pre-market trading ahead of the release of their quarterly results later this week, as earnings season picks up steam.

3M (MMM), American Express (AXP), General Electric (GE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Verizon (VZ), Boeing (BA), and McDonald’s (MCD) are also among a slew of companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about President Joe Biden’s proposed stimulus package.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will looking for any guidance regarding the central bank’s bond purchasing program.

Reports on consumer confidence, durable goods orders, new home sales, and personal income and spending may also attract some attention later this week.

Stocks showed a notable move to the downside at the start of trading on Friday but managed to regain ground over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their lows, although only the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to reach positive territory.

The major averages came under pressure going into the close, but the Nasdaq held on to a modest gain. While the Nasdaq inched up 12.15 points or 0.1 percent to a record closing high of 13,543.06, the Dow slid 179.03 points or 0.6 percent to 30,996.98 and the S&P 500 fell 11.60 points or 0.3 percent to 3,841.47.

For the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq spiked by 4.2 percent, the S&P 500 jumped by 1.9 percent and the Dow rose by 0.6 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have shown significant moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index has plunged by 1.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.07 to $52.20 a barrel after sliding $0.86 to $52.27 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after falling $9.70 to $1,856.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $7.10 to $1,863.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 103.77 yen versus the 103.87 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.2148 compared to last Friday’s $1.2171.