U.S. stock futures rose in early trading on Monday after stocks posted back-to-back weekly losses for the first time since late September.
Futures contracts linked to the S&P 500 (^GSPC(Advanced 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures)^ DJI) gained about 70 points, or 0.2%. Contracts on the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) increased by 0.4%. Over the past week, the S&P 500 has lost 2.1%, the Dow Jones 1.7% and the Nasdaq 2.7%.
In other segments of the market, US Treasury yields rose, while the US dollar index fell. Oil stabilized, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures trading just below $75 a barrel.
of Tesla (TSLA) the share price jumped almost 5% after CEO Elon Musk posted a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as head of the social media platform he recently acquired.
Last week, Tesla shares fell 16% — marking its worst week since the COVID pandemic began in March 2020 — due to concerns over Musk’s handling of Twitter and Tesla stock sales.
Monday’s moves follow a course last week which came after Federal Reserve officials recorded an increase of half a percentage point at their overnight policy rate. Chairman Jerome Powell also stressed that the hike would continue into the new year and that policy would remain restrictive for as long as necessary to contain inflation which remains high, even if this brings economic consequences.
“Reducing inflation will likely require a prolonged period of below-trend growth and some easing of labor market conditions,” Powell said in a speech Wednesday. The historical record strongly cautions against premature policy easing. We will stay the course until the job is done.
Messages from the US central bank on a sustained and restrictive monetary policy dampened hopes for a Santa’s Rally — a regular rise in the stock market which occurs around the end of the year holidays. With Friday’s second straight weekly decline, the S&P 500 is now down nearly 6% month-to-date.
“It was a double – it was the Fed, then weaker economic data – and it created the image of a Fed that has been ruthless on inflation and, perhaps, negligent on inflation. economy, particularly not acknowledging how what impact and what damage what it has already done so far has had,” Kristina Hooper, Invesco’s chief global market strategist, told Yahoo Finance Live. “The general concern is that we are heading into a recession based on what the Fed has already done, and on top of that the Fed is ready to do more.”
Before the markets close for a long Christmas weekendinvestors are in a turbulent economic and income range this could offer further clues to the direction of Fed policy in the new year.
This week’s economic calendar will bring investors the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index – or PCE – which is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, as well as another reading on GDP, a batch of data on housing and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge.
Earnings from Nike (NKE), General Mills (GIS), FedEx (FDX), Micron technology (MU) and Carnival Cruises (CCA) are also in the spotlight this week.
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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc
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