What to Watch Today
Stock futures are gaining Monday with the Dow close to a record high after markets rose strongly on Friday following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole gathering of central bankers confirmed a rate cut is almost certainly coming in September.
The Dow was less than a percentage point below its record closing high of 41,198.08, reached on July 17.
Nvidia’s earnings report after Wednesday’s closing bell has investors’ attention. The chip maker will likely need to post another blockbuster quarter and issue upbeat guidance to help technology stocks keep marching upward on excitement over AI.
Close attention will also be paid to Friday’s U.S. PCE inflation data for July. It’s the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and investors will look for clues about to how steeply the central bank will choose to reduce rates.
Elsewhere, eyes will still be on the Middle East to see if a broader conflict can be avoided between Israel and Iran-backed militia Hezbollah after a heavy exchange of fire on Sunday.
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U.S. stock futures pointed to a positive open Monday after last week’s strong gains driven by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech. Attention in the short term will shift to earnings as chip maker Nvidia reports this week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 24 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were gaining 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures were also up 0.2%. Markets rose strongly on Friday after Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole gathering of central bankers confirmed a rate cut is almost certainly coming in September.
The Dow index is less than a percentage point below its record closing high of 41,198.08, reached on July 17.
“Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday was unambiguously dovish…It was also unambiguously bullish for the stock market because it confirmed widespread expectations that September’s cut in the federal funds rate is in the bag and will be followed by several more cuts,” wrote analysts at Yardeni Research in a research note.
However, close attention will be paid to Friday’s U.S. PCE inflation data for July. It’s the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and investors will look for clues about how steeply the central bank will choose to reduce rates. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.784% early on Monday, broadly flat from the previous week.
Nvidia’s earnings report after Wednesday’s closing bell is the main earnings event of the week. Nvidia will likely need to post another blockbuster quarter and issue upbeat guidance to help technology stocks keep marching upward on excitement about AI.
Elsewhere, eyes will still be on the Middle East to see if a broader conflict can be avoided between Israel and Iran-backed militia Hezbollah after a heavy exchange of fire on Sunday.