Stock Futures Strengthened Their Positions on Monday

Stock futures jumped on Monday morning. They rose, following the S&P 500’s worst week in a long time, more precisely since March 2020, as investors awaited more corporate earnings results as well as a key policy decision from the central bank.

U.S. stocks declined on Friday. Notably, the Nasdaq Composite was hit the hardest with Friday’s selling sending the index to its worst week since 2020.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.7% to 13,768.92 on Friday. On the same day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 450.02 points to 34,265.37. The S&P 500 fell 1.9% to close at 4,397.94.

The Nasdaq Composite posted a 7.6% loss for the week, its worst week since October 2020. As of January 20, the index sits more than 14% below its November record close. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed out their third straight week of losses and their worst weeks since 2020. As of January 20, the S&P 500 is off more than 8% from its record close.

Stock futures and investors

As mentioned above, stock futures rose on Monday morning. For instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 150 points or 0.44%. 

Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.53% and S&P 500 futures gained 0.48%. 

The fourth-quarter earnings season is quite interesting. More than 70% of S&P 500 companies reported results that surpassed expectations. However, several key firms disappointed investors, including Goldman Sachs and Netflix.

Investors are waiting for Microsoft, Apple, and others to report their results. Moreover, another crucial market driver will be the Fed’s policy meeting. Investors are looking for any signals on how much the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year and when it will start. This year, they are dumping riskier assets as investors brace for the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy.