Futures rise as Fed verdict, Big Tech results expected this week

[July 29, 2024]  (Reuters) - U.S. index futures climbed on Monday after the recent market rout, as investors girded up for a busy week marked by a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision, eagerly awaited tech earnings and crucial labor data.

Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms and Tesla were up between 0.5% and 0.8% in premarket trading, after a recent sell-off in megacap tech shares saw Wall Street's main stock indexes spiraling down last week.

At 5:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 109 points, or 0.27%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 15.5 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 84.75 points, or 0.44%.

The three major U.S. stock indexes jumped more than 1% on Friday after hopes of an early start to monetary policy easing were boosted by an encouraging U.S. inflation report, close on the heels of recent data signaling a loosening jobs market.

However, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq failed to recoup lost ground and closed the week lower after a disappointing start to tech earnings prompted the indexes to log their steepest one-day slide since 2022 on Wednesday.

The next round of earnings from Wall Street's tech giants including Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Amazon.com starts on Tuesday.

Investors will be on the watch for justifications for the over-stretched valuations of these high-momentum stocks, as well as signs that the AI-led equity rally has room to grow.

After Wall Street's record-breaking run since the start of this year, concerns about the dominance of Big Tech have prompted investors to pull out of these top-tier stocks and pour into lagging sections such as mid and small caps, which are expected to benefit from a low-interest-rate environment.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 24, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Investors have now pinned their hopes on the Fed likely signaling a rate cut in September in its policy decision on Wednesday. Any hawkish commentary from central bank officials would likely put equities under renewed selling pressure.

Bets of a 25-basis-point cut by September have held around 88%, although they are sharply up from last month's near-60%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

A raft of employment reports through the week, such as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, ADP Employment, non-farm payrolls and weekly jobless claims, will also be parsed for concrete clues on a somewhat easing labor market.

Among other movers, crypto stocks such as Coinbase Global, Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital and MicroStrategy gained around 4% each after bitcoin prices jumped to a seven-week high.

Abbott Laboratories dropped 7.6% after a jury ordered the healthcare company to pay $495 million in damages in a premature-infant formula trial.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

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