U.S. stock futures are meandering around the flatline on Tuesday, holding near three-month highs following a summer surge.How are stock-index futures trading
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
-0.17%
dipped 2 points, or 0.1%, to 4296
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
-0.05%
rose 17 points, or 0.1%, to 33890
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
-0.20%
eased 15 points, or 0.1%, to 13666
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.45%
rose 151 points, or 0.45%, to 33912, the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.40%
increased 17 points, or 0.4%, to 4297, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.62%
gained 81 points, or 0.62%, to 13128. The Nasdaq Composite is up 23.3% from its mid-June low, but remains down 16.1% for the year-to-date.
What’s driving markets Equity indices are in line for a slightly softer open, though bulls should not be too disheartened. It has been a feature of recent sessions, where in the early going stocks were struggling to hold their ground but eventually gave way to further gains as buyers took firm control. Such underlying momentum has helped the S&P 500 climb 17.2% from its 2022 low touched in mid June, bolstered by hopes that a peak in inflation will allow the Federal Reserve to be less aggressive in hiking borrowing costs. Poor economic data from China and a miserable survey of U.S. east coast manufacturing released at the start of the week may also provide the Fed with a reason to adopt a less hawkish stance. Consequently, some of the current session’s caution may reflect wariness ahead of a further update on Fed thinking due Wednesday, when the central bank releases the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield is
TMUBMUSD10Y,
2.799%
up 1.2 basis points to 2.799%.
“In the U.S. many investors are playing a waiting game, waiting to scour Fed minutes and also waiting for a whole host of retailers to deliver their updates giving us an inkling into where consumers are cutting back and which consumers are managing to tread the inflation heated waters,” said Danni Hewson, financial analyst, at AJ Bell. Walmart
WMT,
+0.29%
and Home Depot
…