Stock futures slightly lower with Dow on track for best month since 1976
Stock futures were slightly lower early Monday morning ahead of the final day of October, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average poised to post its best month in decades.
S&P 500 futures were 0.12% lower, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. Dow futures ticked down 14 points, or less than 0.1%.
The Dow is up 14.4% in October, which would be its best month since 1976. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are also up for the month, putting Wall Street on track to snap a two-month losing streak.
The gains have come despite a mixed third-quarter earnings season from major companies, which has seen slowing growth and a few big disappointments from big tech companies.
Earnings season continues this week, with Uber, Pfizer and Advanced Micro Devices among the biggest names to report.
Traders will prepare for the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which begins on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by another three-quarters on Wednesday, but many on Wall Street are looking for a signal from the statement or Chairman Jerome Powell̵[ads1]7;s press conference that the Fed may halt hikes in the near future.
“If J Powell gives the green light next week and doesn’t deliver a Jackson Hole type performance, there is very little to stop this move from a technical standpoint. A body in motion stays in motion,” Goldman Sachs’ Matt Fleury wrote in a note on Saturday.
