Source: Sharecast
As of 121
0 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.06%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 had the futures opening 0.36% and 0.62% higher, respectively.
The Dow closed 40.75 points higher on Friday after a barrage of blue chip earnings came in ahead of analysts' expectations – though markets were largely rangebound as stocks continued to trade near record highs.
Investor focus was again locked in on Washington DC early on Monday, with the US fedreal government shutdown, which has delayed several key economic data releases, now entering its 33rd day.
Elsewhere, market participants will likely keep a keen eye on the Supreme Court, which was expected to hear oral arguments on legality of White House's tariffs.
Saxo's Neil Wilson said: "Wall Street hits November close to record highs after a positive October – the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both finishing the month up more than 2%, while the Nasdaq rallied 4.7% as the AI bull narrative held up. Earnings are strong for tech in the main and trade tensions with China are easing.
"So what's happening? We're still muddling through with the US government shutdown creating a murky picture in terms of economic data not being released, and the Fed has started to sound a little less easy, but some geopolitical clouds seem to be clearing with the US-China coming to terms. The White House announced Saturday that China will lift export controls on rare earths and end probes into US semiconductor firms under a new trade pact.
"Clouding the picture for a seasonal ramp into the year-end perhaps is the Federal Reserve, with chair Jay Powell triggering a back-up in yields last week with his intentionally hawkish message to the market. Powell made it clear that a Dec cut is far from a slam dunk certainty as he warned of 'strongly differing views about how to proceed in December' that meant 'a further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a forgone conclusion'. That's left the chances of no cut at the December up from 5% a week ago to 30% today."
On the macro front, S&P Global's October manufacturing PMI will be publihed at 1445 GMT, while the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI will follow at 1500 GMT.
In the corporate space, Palantir will report earnings after the close.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
