S&P 500 futures are holding flattish with Nasdaq futures marginally lower by 0.1% while Dow futures are just marginally higher by 0.1% on the day. Overall, there’s not much in it as US equities continue to weigh the latest backdrop – mostly concerns surrounding the AI bubble.
Still, the rebound from last week keeps building and that is despite a bit of a setback from Monday this week. The S&P 500 is roughly 1% away from fresh record highs and that continues to underscore how bullish the market is still looking in general.
Coming up today, we do have some labour market data to work with via the US Challenger job cuts data and the weekly initial jobless claims. That being said, they’re not as significant as the non-farm payrolls. And at this point, the threshold to convince markets and more importantly the Fed to move away from a rate cut this month is rather high. So, I don’t see that happening barring something shocking.
And with the fact that we won’t be getting the CPI and non-farm payrolls before the Fed, markets can breathe in some calmer air in the meantime while waiting for Powell & co. to deliver on their verdict. So, the main question isn’t so much so a case of December but more so about next year now.
But for now, the calm will help to keep equities in a snug spot with just having to focus on worries about AI valuations, Nvidia, and general market sentiment. Those things do have the potential to set the course for a modest selloff/correction but it at least beats out the more volatile environment from Trump’s policy incoherence, tariffs, and a more uncertain Fed outlook. So, that is at least one thing that’s helping.
