Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

Following the strong upward move seen last week, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as the look ahead to the release of key earnings and economic news in the coming days.

Four of the “Magnificent Seven” companies – Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) – are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Big-name companies like Coca-Cola (KO), Visa (V), Eli Lilly (LLY), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are also due to report their quarterly results.

The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus later this week along with the Federal Reserve’s preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Traders are also likely to keep a close eye on developments on the trade front, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday he believes an agreement in principle can reached on “17 or 18 important trade deals” the administration is currently negotiating.

“A trade deal can take months, but an agreement in principle and the good behavior and staying within the parameter of the deal by our trading partners can keep the tariffs there from ratcheting back to the maximum level,” Bessent said.

Meanwhile, in a separate interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning, Bessent said he believes it’s up to China to de-escalate, “because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them,”

After turning in a lackluster performance early in the session, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed before eventually closing in positive territory.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day firmly positive, closing higher for the fourth straight session. The Nasdaq jumped 216.90 points or 1.3 percent to 17,382.94 and the S&P 500 climbed 40.44 points or 0.7 percent to 5,525.21, while the narrower Dow inched up 20.10 points or 0.1 percent to 40,113.50.

For the week, the Nasdaq spiked by 6.7 percent, the S&P 500 surged by 4.6 percent and the Dow shot up by 2.5 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are unchanged after rising $0.23 to $63.02 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after plunging $50.20 to $3,298.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $12.50 to $3,310.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.19 yen versus the 143.67 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1365 compared to last Friday’s $1.1365.