Stock futures rise to start the week as traders await mid-term elections and inflation report

US stock futures rose on Monday as a packed week began, with mid-term congressional elections and key inflation data due in the next few days.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded higher by 202 points, or 0.6%. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.6% and 0.6% respectively.

Those gains came even as Apple fell 1% after the tech company said iPhone production has been temporarily reduced due to Covid-19 restrictions in China.

Tuesday’s midterm elections will determine which party will control Congress, and affect the direction of future spending. The Democrats currently control the House, and have a majority in the Senate.

“[We] believe U.S. equity investors would take a bullish cue from the history handbook indicating that stocks tend to experience above-trend gains of 13-14% on a median/average basis in years that have a Democratic president and a divided or Republican Congress.” RBC’s Lori Calvasina wrote in a Monday note.

“In other words, the conventional wisdom that the stock market likes political gridlock is supported by the historical data in this case,” Calvasina wrote.

On the economic front, investors expect Thursday’s CPI report to provide further insight into the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stem inflation. A hot inflation report can signal to investors that a pivot from higher interest rates, for a longer time, may be further away than expected.

“[In] For equity and bond markets to match the post-peak inflation performance noted in the table, inflation will need to continue to fall – and at a faster pace than we have yet seen. Until the Fed signals that the ‘pivot’ is near, things could remain challenging,” Baird’s Ross Mayfield wrote in a recent note.

Wall Street is coming off a strong session, with the Dow rallying 400 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also rose more than 1% each. Still, the major averages ended the week with losses. The Dow ended a four-week winning streak on fears of interest rate hikes.

Elsewhere, several companies are expected to report on Monday, i.a Palantir Technologies, Activision Blizzard, Lyft and Take-Two Interactive. The corporate earnings season ends with a majority of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported results.