Stock futures opened higher on Sunday evening as Wall Street readied for the second quarter to begin.
U.S. futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.13%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, released Friday during the market closure for Good Friday, showed inflation rose 2.8% in February, which is in line with expectations. The inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve also rose 0.3% from a month ago, the Commerce Department said.
“This showcases progress on inflation is slow-moving and provides one more bullet in the bandolier of those who are calling the bluff on the Fed’s next rate cut,” said Giuseppe Sette, Toggle AI’s co-founder and president. “As a reminder, the Fed keeps rates consistently higher than inflation, except when they foresee a slowdown.”
In other news, the major averages are coming off a winning first quarter. The S&P 500 jumped 10.2% for its best quarterly stretch since 2019, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 5.6% for its best quarter since 2021. The Nasdaq Composite popped 9.1%.
Markets also wrapped up a winning March and their fifth consecutive positive month, with the S&P and Dow rising 3.1% and 2.1%, respectively. The Nasdaq edged up 1.8% for the month.
Ongoing bets on artificial intelligence stocks and tailwinds from Nvidia have continued powering the market higher in the new year after a strong 2023. That comes alongside the expectation for the start of a rate-cutting cycle from the Federal Reserve later this year, with markets pricing in a cut as soon as June.
According to Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, this rally could be poised to continue. He noted that the S&P finished the year higher than 10 out of the 11 previous times it notched a gain of 10% or more in the first quarter.
Wall Street is readying for a busy week of economic data that kicks of Monday, with construction spending for February and ISM manufacturing data for March due Monday. The keynote March jobs report is on deck for Friday. – CNBC
