US stock futures rose slightly at the start of the week's trading after major indices recorded their best week so far this year.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points, or 0.14%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.13%.
All the major indices were coming off their best weeks of the year so far and started November trading on a positive note.
The Dow Jones ended the week up 5.07% in its most profitable week since October 2022. The S&P and Nasdaq Composite ended the week up 5.85% and 6.61%, respectively, in their best weeks since November 2022.
Oversold conditions, strong earnings, hope for an end to the Fed's rate hike campaign, and a significant pullback in interest rates have brought buyers back into the market, said Adam Turnquist of LPL Financial.
The weak monthly jobs report also pushed bond yields lower, giving a boost to stocks.
However, a favorable monsoon could help boost the recovery in stocks. November is the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to Stock Traders Almanac. Turnquist noted that it is also beginning the market's best six-month return period since 1950. The S&P 500 has averaged a 7% return from November through April since then, he said.
With the end of the earnings season, 400 companies listed on the Standard & Poor's 500 index have already announced their quarterly financial results. Investors this week are still looking forward to updates this week from Walt Disney, Wynn, MGM Resorts, Occidental Petroleum and D.R. Horton.
Meanwhile, traders will also be watching Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who is scheduled to speak twice in the coming days. Last week, the central bank kept interest rates unchanged for the second meeting in a row as bond yields declined, and investors hoped that the campaign to raise interest rates would end.
“If you look at the totality of the data that has come in over the last few weeks, you see a very strong overall picture,” Bharath Ramamurti, former deputy director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC. Friday. I would be surprised if the Fed were to raise rates again this year, and this could be the top of the rate hike cycle.
