Dow Jones futures experienced a slight decline on Sunday night, mirroring the movement of S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated and elaborated on his cautious approach to rate cuts.
Despite a week packed with earnings reports and economic updates, the stock market rally largely persevered. Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices reached fresh record highs on Friday, while the Nasdaq rebounded to a two-year peak, driven by strong performances from Meta Platforms and Amazon.com.
While earnings from major tech companies were mixed, overall sentiment in the sector remained positive, providing support to the broader market.
However, market breadth appeared weak, with small-cap stocks facing challenges. Tesla managed to break a streak of weekly losses but continues to lead the list of S&P 500 losers in 2024.
In a market characterized by selective opportunities, certain stocks showed promising signs on Friday. Companies such as Adobe, Axon Enterprise, MongoDB, Samsara, and Synopsys flashed buy signals, indicating potential opportunities for investors.
Synopsys, featured on the IBD Long-Term Leaders list, along with Samsara and MongoDB, which are part of the IBD 50, exhibited favorable market action. Additionally, Synopsys and Axon were included in the IBD Big Cap 20, with Axon receiving recognition as Friday’s IBD Stock Of The Day.
Earnings announcements are expected to continue driving market activity in the upcoming week, with notable companies such as Caterpillar, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Eli Lilly, ELF Beauty, Arm Holdings, and Pinterest scheduled to report.
As of the latest update, Dow Jones futures were trading 0.2% below fair value, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 0.3%. The 10-year Treasury yield saw a modest increase to 4.07%.
Powell’s remarks in a “60 Minutes” interview underscored the Fed’s cautious stance, reiterating that a rate cut in March is not the central scenario. He also suggested that any rate cuts in 2024 are likely to be less aggressive than market expectations.
It’s important to note that movements in Dow futures and other pre-market indicators may not necessarily reflect actual trading activity during the next regular stock market session.
