Stock Futures Benefited from a One Very Important Factor

Stock futures rose in overnight trading Sunday thanks to the S&P 500. Since February, the index notched its best week, rebounding from a big sell-off triggered by fears of the omicron coronavirus variant.

  Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 90 points. The S&P 500 futures added 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.3%. 

Interestingly, the overnight action followed an intense week on Wall Street as investors shrugged off a hot inflation reading. 

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 4%, breaking a four-week losing streak with its best weekly performance in several months. Last week, the S&P 500 advanced 3.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.6%. 

U.S. stocks and investors

Last week, investors analyzed inflation data from November. It is worth mentioning that inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since November of 1982. 

The consumer price index rose 0.8% for the month, suitable for a 6.8% pace on a year-over-year basis and the fastest rate since June 1982.

Without considering food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI was up 0.5% for the month.

 Energy prices jumped 33.3% since November 2020, including a 3.5% surge in November. Unfortunately, gasoline alone is up 58.1%. 

Food prices jumped 6.1% over the year. Moreover, used car and truck prices, a major contributor to the inflation burst, are up 31.4%.

 Shelter costs, which comprise about one-third of the Consumer Price Index, rose 3.8% on the year. 

Last week, stocks bounced back as investors bet that the initial worry about Covid’s new variant was overblown. Information provided by Pfizer and BioNTech also helped to boost stocks. Three doses of their vaccine offer a high level of protection against the omicron variant.