Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, July 20, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures rose to begin trading for the week on expectations the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates on hold, with inflation continuing to slow.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that there was a consensus among Fed members to not raise rates when the central bank meets next week. Fed futures trading early Monday now put the chance of the Fed staying on hold on Sep. 20 at 93%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Whether the Fed hikes again this year is undecided, the WSJ report said.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 61 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.4% and Nasdaq 100 futures rallied by 0.7%.
Shares of Tesla gained 6% in premarket trading after a big call out of Morgan Stanley, which upgraded the shares and predicted a significant rally ahead because of breakthroughs with its autonomous software. Qualcomm shares jumped more than 8% after the semiconductor company said Monday it will supply Apple with 5G modems for smartphones through 2026.
All three major indexes posted losing weeks last week. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the biggest loss, down nearly 2% on fear of higher rates.
Investors are looking forward to key inflation data in the week ahead after a string of stronger-than-expected economic data points last week had renewed worries that the Federal Reserve could raise rates more than previously expected.
Wednesday and Thursday bring the latest consumer price index and producer price index readings, respectively. Investors are hoping for low readings, although both are expected to jump due to energy cost pressures.
Retail sales data is also expected Thursday and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Survey will be released on Friday, which should give insight on how well spending could hold up for the rest of the year.
Apple will also hold its product event on Tuesday, dubbed “Wonderlust,” during which the company is widely anticipated to unveil the iPhone 15.
Apple is coming off a down week and dipped below its 50-day moving average following reports that China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones in government agencies and state-owned companies. That raised fears among investors that the largest S&P 500 stock could be breaking.