Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

Following the rebound seen in the previous session, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by just 0.25 points.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, but traders will be paying close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement that may signal a shift in the near future.

Earnings season will also pick up steam in the coming days, with a slew of big-name companies scheduled to release their quarterly results.

Tesla (TSLA), General Electric (GE), UPS (UPS), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Boeing (BA), Apple (AAPL), McDonald’s (MCD), Amazon (AMZN), and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are just some of the companies due to report their results this week.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased by much less than expected in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in March after falling by a revised 0.9 percent in February.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to spike by 2.5 percent compared to the 1.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.

The much weaker than expected durable goods orders growth was partly due to a continued decrease in orders for transportation equipment.

Excluding the drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders jumped by 1.6 percent in March after dipping by 0.3 percent in February. The increase matched economist estimates.

After coming under pressure over the course of Thursday’s session, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, although the Dow underperformed its counterparts.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow climbed 227.59 points or 0.7 percent to 34,043.49, while the Nasdaq surged up 198.40 points or 1.4 percent to 14,016.81 and the S&P 500 jumped 45.19 points or 1.1 percent to 4,180.17.

Despite the advance on the day, the major averages closed modestly lower for the week. The Dow slid by 0.5 percent, the Nasdaq fell by 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 edged down by 0.1 percent.

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 0.4 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved modestly higher on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has risen by 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.24 to $60.90 a barrel after climbing $0.71 to $62.14 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after falling $4.20 to $1,777.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are sliding $7.60 to $1,770.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 107.99 yen versus the 107.88 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.2082 compared to last Friday’s $1.2097.

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