Dow Futures Gained 139 Points, S&P 500 Futures Added 0.3%

U.S. stock futures demonstrated their strength on Monday morning as investors bet on a year-end rally after markets navigated a typically tough seasonal period successfully. Dow futures advanced 139 points and the S&P 500 added 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.2%.

Shares of Tesla continued their gains over the years with shares up more than 1% in premarket trading. Last month, Tesla became a $1 trillion company. 

September was a tough month for the S&P 500, as it fell more than 4%. However, the benchmark gained nearly 7% last month. As a reminder, September is typically the worst month for the market, averaging a 0.4% decline since 1950. Hopefully, the market typically averages a gain in October. Nonetheless, the month is known for notable crashes to investors who were a bit wary as the month began. 

Dow Jones and S&P 500 on Friday

Still, stocks ended up closing out October on Friday with all S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq closing at record highs. The S&P 500, as well as Nasdaq Composite, climbed their best months since November of last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 5.8% in October. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 7.3% in October, and the S&P 500 added 6.9% last month.

For the year, the S&P 500 gained more than 22%.

Corporate earnings season was the main topic in October amid solid profit results even with global supply chain concerns. About half of the S&P 500 companies reported quarterly results. More than 89% of companies surpassed expectations. 

Market participants are preparing for another week of corporate earnings. They are also monitoring a key Federal Reserve meeting and October’s jobs report.

As the earning season is not over yet, investors will be monitoring the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting. The country’s central bank is expected to announce that it will begin to relax its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases and end the program by the middle of 2022.

They are also looking for the Fed’s comments on rising prices on inflation. 

We should also mention the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index for October. Analysts expect the index to fall to 60.3 from September’s 61.1. 

The other major event for the week will be October’s employment report on Friday. Economists expect the report to show an increase of 450,000 with the unemployment rate declining to 4.7%. 

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