Stock Futures Rise Amid Hopes for Rate Cuts as Critical Inflation Data Looms This Week

Stock futures moved slightly higher Monday morning as the market looks to resume a rally that has boosted major indexes to a series of record highs in recent weeks. 

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently up 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.1%. Stocks finished slightly lower on Friday after each of the major indexes hit all-time highs early in the session following the release of the August jobs report.

The employment data, which showed that the U.S. labor market has continued to weaken, reinforced investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates soon. Fed Chair Jerome Powell last month signaled that labor market weakness could warrant a rate cut, though he reiterated concerns about the impact tariffs could have on inflation. Key inflation data this week—a report on wholesale prices is due on Wednesday and consumer price numbers are coming Thursday—will be closely monitored ahead of the Fed’s policy committee meeting next week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer loans, was at 4.07% this morning, down from 4.09% at Friday’s close. The yield is trading at its lowest level since early April as anticipation grows that the Fed will cut rates several times before the end of the year.

Shares of the world’s largest technology companies, which have an outsized influence on the broader market, were higher in premarket trading. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were up more than 1%, after gaining nearly 4% on Friday, when the company unveiled a pay package plan for CEO Elon Musk that could boost his compensation to $1 trillion. Shares of chip giant Broadcom (AVGO) also rose more than 1%, after surging 9% on Friday following the release of a strong earnings report. Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG),  Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) all rose slightly.

Shares of trading platform Robinhood Markets (HOOD) jumped 8%, while those of mobile app monetization company AppLovin (APP) soared nearly 10% following the announcement late Friday that the two companies will join the S&P 500 on Sep. 22.

Gold prices, which have been trading at all-time highs recently, hit another record this morning. Gold futures were up 0.2% at $3,660 an ounce.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 2.2% to $63.20, rebounding from three consecutive days of declines that had pushed prices to their lowest level in three months.

Bitcoin was at $112,000 recently, up from an overnight low of $110,600. The cryptocurrency has come under pressure in recent weeks after hitting a record high of more than $124,000 in mid-August.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.66.