December 25, 2024

Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor.

New York Stock Exchange

U.S. stock index futures opened flat on the final trading day of September after a third straight weekly gain for the major indexes.

futures Linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it trades near its flat line. S&P 500 Index Futures is flat, and Nasdaq 100 Futures It fell slightly by 0.14%.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% on Friday to close at a record high, ending the week up about 0.6%. The S&P 500 is also up about 0.6%, while the Nasdaq is up nearly 1% for the week.

Wall Street is expected to approach the end of September on a positive note. So far this month, the Dow and the broader market are up 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2.3% in September. Stocks got off to a bad start in one of their weakest months on record, but rebounded with the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates by half a percentage point in September.

Stock chart iconStock chart icon

Hide content

S&P 500 Index, 1 month

The S&P 500 is up 5.1% this quarter and more than 20% year-to-date. However, October also has a troubling history for markets, known as a period of extreme volatility that has seen some of Wall Street’s more notable drawdowns.

As of last week, the personal consumption expenditures price index in August was only 2.2%, the lowest level since February 2021, making investors more confident that the Federal Reserve will further cut interest rates. In addition, the number of first-time jobless claims announced last week fell less than expected, indicating a strong labor market.

Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global “Despite the geopolitical noise, risk assets are expected to continue rising against this backdrop.

Markets will face a big test later this week with the release of the September jobs report on Friday. On the earnings front, Carnival will report quarterly results on Monday morning.

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *