U.S. stock futures fell on Monday, halting a record rally as investors prepared for crucial events this week, including testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the release of the monthly jobs report.
S&P 500 futures fell about 0.1% after Friday’s close, which marked the index’s 16th weekly gain in 18 weeks. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell about 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were relatively stable.
The stock market’s upward trajectory has been fueled by a sharp rise in technology stocks, fueled in part by advances in artificial intelligence. This rise propelled the Nasdaq Composite to a new all-time high after a prolonged holding period. However, concerns have been raised about a potential market bubble, particularly in light of Nvidia’s rapid rise to a $2 trillion valuation.
Bitcoin continued its upward trajectory on Monday, surpassing the $65,000 mark and approaching an all-time high. Meanwhile, the Japanese Nikkei 225 stock index surpassed the significant 40,000 level for the first time.
Amid the optimism, however, a reality check may be on the horizon as Powell’s testimony and February employment data loom large. These events will factor into discussions about potential interest rate adjustments and provide insight into the path of the U.S. economy toward either a “soft landing” or stagflation. Powell is scheduled to address Congress starting Wednesday, while jobs data will be released on Friday.
In other news, EU antitrust regulators imposed a hefty fine of nearly $2 billion on Apple over App Store restrictions affecting Spotify and other music streaming services. This fact caused Apple’s shares to fall after the announcement.
Significant moves were seen among individual stocks, with Macy’s shares rising more than 16% after bidders Arkhouse and Brigade raised their purchase offer to $6.6 billion, representing a 33% premium to Friday’s closing price. Similarly, shares of Super Micro Computer rose 16% ahead of the AI ​​server maker’s planned inclusion in the S&P 500.
Amid these developments, market attention remains firmly fixed on Nvidia, whose exponential growth continues to dominate discussions. With a market capitalization reaching $2.05 trillion, Nvidia now ranks as the third most valuable company in the United States. Notably, it only took 180 business days for Nvidia’s market capitalization to skyrocket from $1 trillion to $2 trillion, underscoring the company’s meteoric rise. Additionally, an overwhelming 92% of analysts covering the stock rate it a “buy.”
As markets navigate through an avalanche of events and developments, the trajectory of key indices and individual stocks will be closely watched, and investor sentiment will depend on the results of Powell’s testimony and the jobs report.
Also read: Asian stock market update: Japan’s Nikkei hits all-time high above 40,000 ahead of key China meeting