Stock Market Today: Dow futures slip after payrolls-inspired rally
How are stock-index futures trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 154 points, or 0.4%, to 42492.
S&P 500 futures dropped 22 points, or 0.4%, to 5778.
Nasdaq-100 futures decreased 85 points, or 0.4%, to 20143.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 341.16 points, or 0.81%, to 42,352.75, as the S&P 500 increased 51.13 points, or 0.9%, to 5,751.07, and the Nasdaq 100 increased 241.67 points, or 1.22%, to 20,035.02.
Stock futures dipped on Monday in the aftermath of the Friday rally that was sparked by knockout U.S. payroll figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed 245,000 new jobs were created in September, compared to the 140,000 expected by economists.
The outsized U.S. payrolls data helped drive a 0.9% increase in the S&P 500 index on Friday in what lifted the index to its fourth consecutive week of gains, despite concerns about the weight of geopolitics on American stocks.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also surged by another 10.2% last week in a continuation of the rally sparked by the unleashing of China’s far-reaching stimulus package on Sept. 24. The Shanghai Stock Exchange remained closed for China’s Golden Week as investors readied themselves for the market to reopen on Tuesday.
The stronger-than-expected U.S. payroll figures also helped drive a 35.4 basis point increase in U.S. 2-year Treasury yields last week in what marked that sharpest increase since June 2022. Heightened Middle East tensions also helped drive the sharpest weekly increase in Brent crude prices since January 2023.
In terms of data, investors are now waiting out for publication of the U.S. consumer price index data this Thursday. According to the CME’s Fedwatch tool, investors are pricing in a 93% chance of a quarter-point rate reduction in November.