U.S. equity futures were mixed in early Monday trading, with the dollar coming off a seven week high against its global peers, as investors looked to a busy week of earnings and economic data on Wall Street while defending one of the strongest year-to-date rallies in nearly three decades.
Stocks ended higher last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a fresh all-time peak, after a stronger-than-expected start to the third quarter bank earnings season offset some worrying consumer and factory gate inflation data.
JPMorgan (JPM) had its strongest gain in more than 18 months, rising 4.44% on the session, after it topped Wall Street’s earnings forecasts on the back of solid investment banking revenues and higher interest rate fees.
The S&P 500 is riding its best 10-month gain since 1997, and is just a whisker away from overtaking the year-to-date advance for the tech-focused Nasdaq.
Bank earnings will be back in focus this week as Goldman Sachs (GS) , Citigroup (C) , Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) report third quarter updates over the next three days.
All told, around 41 S&P 500 companies will post earnings updates this week, with LSEG data suggesting collective profits will rise 4.9% from last year to around $511 billion.
The Commerce Department will also publish its official reading for September retail sales Thursday, with housing starts data set for the same month set for following data.
Bond markets will remain closed for today’s Columbus Day holiday, but stocks will trade through a regular-hours session.
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Global oil prices were moving firmly lower following a weekend briefing from China’s Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on the government’s stimulus plans, which failed to deliver on spending details.
Brent crude contracts for December delivery, the global pricing benchmark, were last marked $1.76 lower at $77.30 per barrel, while WTI contracts for November were marked $1.81 lower at $73.75 per barrel.
On Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 21.9% for the year amid its best 10-month gain since 1997, are priced for a modest 6 point opening bell gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, is called 33 points lower from Friday’s record high of 42,863.86 points while the tech-focused Nasdaq is set for a 30 point gain amid early advances for Tesla (TSLA) and Nivdia (NVDA) .
Stocks on the move include Caterpillar (CAT) , which is down 2.25% following a downgrade to ‘underweight’ from Morgan Stanley, and Meta Platforms (META) , which rose 0.4% following a price target boost from Goldman Sachs.
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In overseas markets, Europe’s Stoxx 600 benchmark was marked 0.01% lower in early Frankfurt trading in a relatively muted session, while Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.12% in London.
Overnight in Asia, China stocks booked solid gains following a weekend briefing from Finance Minister Lan Fo’an on the government’s stimulus plans, although a lack of detail on the dollar amounts it plans to commit kept broader gains in check, with the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark rising 0.1% into the close of trading.
Japan’s Nikkei 225, meanwhile, was closed for the country’s traditional October Sports Day holiday.
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