U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open Monday as Wall Street braced for a week of key economic data signals. Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) both rose about 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose about 0.2%.
Wall Street is coming off a crazy week that has left markets choppy and ‘tense’. Although the major indexes ended last week pretty much where they started, the entire week was not without volatility.
Strategists say this is likely to remain the case – and this week presents plenty of opportunities. Wednesday offers a fresh look at inflation status with the latest publication of the consumer price index. Then Thursday brings two major signals about the state of the American consumer: a July retail sales figure and Walmart’s (WMT) earnings.
Wall Street is once again seeing good news as good news, so volatility this week could depend on the signals this data introduces.
Either way, markets are seeing a slowing economy, which has shifted the debate from whether the Federal Reserve should cut rates in September to how much they should cut rates. A slight majority of traders expect a cut of 25 basis points next month, while the rest – around 48% – expect a larger cut of 50 basis points.