NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 16: Traders and others work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City.
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U.S. stock futures were slightly higher Sunday night after gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500. Best Weekly Winning Streaks 2024.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 44 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.13% and 0.16%, respectively.
This came after both the S&P 500 and the 30-stock Dow Jones index hit record highs on Friday, cementing a sixth straight weekly gain for both benchmarks, their best performance so far this year. The S&P 500 closed the week up 0.85%, and the Dow Jones closed up 0.96%. The Nasdaq rose 0.80%.
Whether stocks can sustain those gains may depend on whether companies can beat expectations this earnings season, which is set to rise this week. About one-fifth of the S&P 500 companies will report earnings on Friday.
So far, the results are mixed. FactSet’s John Butters said that of the 14% of S&P 500 companies, 79% have reported third-quarter results that beat expectations. However, he noted that the amplitude of these beats was more prosaic.
The recent streak of gains has investors optimistic that stocks have further gains to go. However, they note that elevated valuations could also mean further volatility ahead of the U.S. presidential election and amid rising geopolitical risks.
“If we don’t really get confirmation that the market is worth such a high price, then we could end up seeing the gains priced in pretty quickly,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
Elsewhere on the economic front, leading indicators for September will be released at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.
