Amid a continuation of muted trading activity from the past two sessions, stocks are expected to open relatively flat early Monday. The S&P 500 futures indicate a marginal decline of less than one percent.
Investors appear hesitant to commit to substantial moves ahead of several key economic events scheduled for this week, particularly the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce its latest monetary policy decision, with the consensus being that interest rates will remain unchanged. Given that this outcome is widely anticipated, market participants are likely to focus more on any updated economic and rate projections from Fed officials.
Preceding the Fed's decision, the Labor Department is set to release its May report on consumer price inflation. Economists anticipate a modest 0.1 percent increase in consumer prices for May, after a 0.3 percent rise in April. Core consumer prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy sectors, are expected to grow by 0.3 percent for the second consecutive month.
The annual growth rate for consumer prices is projected to remain steady at 3.4 percent, whereas the annual rate for core consumer price growth is expected to decelerate slightly to 3.5 percent from April’s 3.6 percent.
Later in the week, reports on producer prices, import and export prices, as well as consumer sentiment and inflation expectations, may also capture market attention.
On Friday, stocks struggled for direction, extending the lackluster performance from Thursday. Major indices fluctuated around the unchanged line before closing slightly lower. The S&P 500, which hit a new record intraday high earlier in the afternoon, ended the day down by 5.97 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,346.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 87.18 points, or 0.2 percent, to 38,798.99, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 39.99 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,133.13.
Weekly performance showed the Nasdaq surging by 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 rising by 1.3 percent, while the narrower Dow edged up by 0.3 percent.
In international markets, the Asia-Pacific region had a mixed showing on Monday, with several markets closed due to holidays. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index increased by 0.9 percent, whereas South Korea’s Kospi declined by 0.8 percent.
European markets, on the other hand, experienced losses. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 1.6 percent, the German DAX Index dropped by 0.5 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreased by 0.2 percent.
Commodities trading showed crude oil futures rising by $0.81 to $76.34 per barrel, following a slight dip of $0.02 to $75.53 per barrel last Friday. Gold futures, which had plunged by $65.90 to $2,325 per ounce in the previous session, are now down by $0.60 to $2,324.40 per ounce.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.99 yen, up from 156.75 yen at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0751, compared to $1.0801 last Friday.
