US Futures Unchanged as Tech Stocks Propel Wall Street; Jobs Data Awaited

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U.S. stock index futures were mostly unchanged on Sunday evening after Wall Street posted a strong performance last week, driven by gains in technology stocks. Investors are now awaiting important job data scheduled for later this week.

S&P 500 Futures remained steady at 5,991.00 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures increased by 0.1% to 21,529.75 points by 19:15 ET (00:15 GMT). Dow Jones Futures showed little movement at 43,028.0 points.

This week will be another shortened trading week, as the New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Thursday to honor former President Jimmy Carter’s passing.

Attention is also on the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes for Dec. 17-18, which are set for release on Wednesday, as well as speeches from Fed officials Thomas Barkin, Jeffrey Schmid, and Patrick Harker. These events could offer further insight into the Fed’s interest rate plans, especially given its focus on persistent inflation and a robust economy.

The December jobs report, scheduled for Friday, is expected to show 154,000 new jobs added to the economy, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2%.

The U.S. economic calendar for the week includes the December ISM services PMI, final S&P Global PMIs, ADP employment data, JOLTS job openings, factory orders, trade figures, and weekly jobless claims.

Tech stocks, which had fallen in the final week of 2024, rebounded on Friday, contributing to Wall Street’s gains. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and NASDAQ Composite all ended higher, with tech giants like NVIDIA (up 4.5%) and Tesla (up 8%) leading the charge.

Meta Platforms, Intel, and Amazon also saw gains, while analysts at Goldman Sachs forecast an 11% return for the S&P 500 in 2025, predicting a rise to 6,500 points by year-end, driven by earnings growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Investing.com" all rights reserved by the original author.