Investing.com – U.S. stock futures were little changed in after-hours trading on Sunday as a recent rally on Wall Street slowed ahead of new signals on inflation and the Federal Reserve later this week.
stabilized at 5,291.50 and was unchanged at 18,572.75 by 7:29 pm ET (2329 GMT). fell 0.1% to 39,835.00 points.
Wall Street Expects Consolidation After Strong Rally
Wall Street indexes surged to record highs last week after the Federal Reserve signaled it would cut interest rates at least three times this year, while continued hype around artificial intelligence has also pushed investors into heavyweight tech stocks, especially NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:).
But those gains cooled on Friday, with analysts now noting some near-term consolidation on Wall Street as traders book profits following the now-record rally in 2024.
On Friday, the index fell 0.1% to 5,234.18 points. The index rose 0.2% to 16,428.82, led by Nvidia, while the index fell 0.8% to finish at 39,475.90 on Friday.
All three indexes remain largely within last week’s record highs, with gains of between 4% and 10% in the first quarter of 2024. Repositioning at the end of the quarter could also trigger some weakness on Wall Street.
Waiting for more inflation data and signals from the Federal Reserve also kept markets on edge.
PCE Inflation, Fed Speakers This Week
The data, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator, will be released this Friday. With the Fed recently reaffirming its stance that inflation will set the path for interest rate cuts in 2024, markets were on guard ahead of the data.
Although U.S. inflation fell significantly last year amid high interest rates, it still remains well above the Fed’s annual 2% target – a trend that remains a major point of contention for the central bank.
A slew of Fed officials are also scheduled to speak this week, with members of the rate-setting committee scheduled to speak on Monday and Friday, respectively.
is also set to speak within a week after striking a somewhat conciliatory tone at last week’s Fed meeting.