Editor’s Note: The future prices of benchmark tracking ETFs were updated in the story.
U.S. stock futures rose on Monday following Friday’s advances. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.
As the futures advanced, gold prices also hit a new all-time high on Monday morning, with the investors overlooking the possibility of a Donald Trump-led government shutdown.
While the market appears calm, a key risk that looms with the near-certainty of the shutdown is a potential blackout of crucial economic data that could leave investors and policymakers flying blind.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.14% and the two-year bond was at 3.62%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool’s projections show markets pricing an 89.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates in its October meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.38% |
| S&P 500 | 0.50% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.65% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.66% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices, respectively, rose in premarket on Monday. The SPY was up 0.49% at $665.05, while the QQQ rose 0.67% to $599.96, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Materials, utilities, and consumer discretionary stocks recorded the biggest gains on Friday, while consumer staples stocks bucked the overall market trend by closing the session lower. This broad strength helped U.S. stocks settle higher, following the release of inflation data.
Inflation figures released Friday showed no surprises but indicated the Fed’s need for caution on its rate-cut cycle. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.7% year-over-year in August, up from 2.6% in July, matching forecasts. The core PCE, which excludes food and energy and is closely watched by the Fed, remained flat at 2.9%, in line with expectations.
Major indices, however, recorded losses last week, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 0.7% and the S&P 500 losing 0.3%. The Dow also fell 0.2% during the week.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) surged more than 4% on Friday, extending its weekly gain to around 20% following last week’s 22% advance. The chipmaker continues to ride the momentum of Nvidia Corp.‘s (NASDAQ: NVDA) $5 billion investment pledge, which reinvigorated investor enthusiasm.
The Dow Jones index ended 300 points or 0.65% higher at 46,247.29, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.59% to 6,643.70. Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.44% to 22,484.07, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, gained 0.97% to end at 2,434.32.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.44% | 22,484.07 |
| S&P 500 | 0.59% | 6,643.70 |
| Dow … |