U.S. Stocks May Show A Lack Direction In Early Trading

Following the mixed performance seen during last Friday’s session, 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 ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Earnings news from big-name companies like Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL) is also likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Traders are also keeping an eye on the latest geopolitical developments, with President Donald Trump threatening to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods from Canada over a potential trade deal with China.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by saying his country has no intention of pursuing such a deal.

The U.S. government is also facing the possibility of another shutdown, as several Democratic senators have threatened to oppose a spending bill if it includes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security.

The impasse over DHS funding comes after federal immigration agents shot and killed another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis over the weekend.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged by much more than expected in the month of November.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders shot up by 5.3 percent in November after tumbling by 2.1 percent in October. Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 3.0 percent.

The bigger than expected increase by durable goods orders largely reflected a spike by orders for transportation equipment, which skyrocketed by 14.7 percent in November after plunging by 6.3 percent in October.

Excluding the surge in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in November after inching up by 0.1 percent in October. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

After moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. While the Dow gave back ground, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw further upside, closing higher for the third straight day.

The major averages finished the choppy trading day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. The Dow slid 285.30 points or 0.6 percent to 49,098.71, but the S&P 500 inched up 2.26 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,915.61 and the Nasdaq rose 65.22 points or 0.3 percent to 23,501.24.

For the holiday-shortened week, the major averages all moved to the downside. The Nasdaq edged down by 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow fell by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.8 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index crept up by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets are also narrowly mixed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by less than a tenth of a percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.34 to $60.73 a barrel after soaring $1.71 to $61.07 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after surging $66.30 to $4,979.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $80 to $5,059.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.21 yen versus the 155.71 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1847 compared to last Friday’s $1.1827.

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