U.S. stock futures rose Sunday night as Wall Street prepared for a crucial week with the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cut, a rush of earnings from big tech companies and a long-awaited meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) gained about 0.7%, while Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) rose 0.9%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose nearly 300 points, or 0.6%.
The optimism follows an exceptional week on Wall Street, with all three major indexes closing at record levels on Friday. The Dow Jones jumped 472 points to finish above 47,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 added 0.8% to approach the 6,800 level, while the Nasdaq Composite rose more than 1%.
Markets are almost certain that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates when policymakers meet this week, after inflation data came in colder than expected last week due to the delayed release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) due to the government shutdown.
Investors are also keeping an eye on a high-stakes meeting between Trump and Xi in South Korea on Thursday, where weekend discussions could pave the way for a potential trade breakthrough. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday: “I think we’ve reached a very substantial framework” for a broader trade deal. The Chinese side also praised the “preliminary consensus” reached during the weekend talks. The upbeat tone raised hopes that the world’s two largest economies could avoid a deeper trade war after intense tensions in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the focus on profits shifts to Silicon Valley. Several of the “Magnificent Seven,” including Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) will release their third-quarter results this week.
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