Stock Market News: Dow Set to Open Up
U.S. stocks looked set to rise at the start of the final full trading week of 2024.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53 points, or 0.1%, signaling that the index could snap its seven-day losing streak. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were both also up 0.1%.
Central banks will likely be the main story for markets this week. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by another quarter point Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan and Bank of England will announce policy decisions of their own on Thursday.
As the festive season ramps up it will probably be a quiet five-day stretch, but one that could be “punctuated by bursts of activity centered around the Fed, the BoJ, and the BoE meetings,” Deutsche Bank’s global head of macro research Jim Reid said in a note.
Oil prices were sliding as traders weighed up how heavier U.S. sanctions on Russia and Iran could affect crude markets. The Brent international benchmark fell 0.3% to $74.26 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate U.S. prices were down 0.4% to $70.99 a barrel.
Bond yields edged up slightly over the weekend. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was at 4.386% early Monday, while the 2-year note was yielding 4.247%.