U.S. futures muted as attention turns to upcoming Fed meeting
Investing.com — U.S. stock futures were muted on Monday, hovering just below the flatline, as investors prepared for the Federal Reserve's final two-day policy meeting this year.
By 07:08 ET (12:08 GMT), the Dow futures contract was unchanged, S&P futures had lost 3 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had shed 27 points or 0.2%.
Both the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted their highest closing levels since early 2022 in the prior session, while the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its sixth consecutive weekly gain — its longest streak of positive weeks since 2019.
A batch of jobs market data on Friday buoyed hopes that the Fed might be able to engineer a so-called «soft landing» for the U.S. economy. In this scenario, the central bank's aggressive string of interest rate hikes — which have brought borrowing costs up to more than two-decade highs — would succeed in quelling elevated inflation without triggering a broader economic meltdown.
Figures showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by more than anticipated in November, average hourly earnings inched up on a monthly basis, and the unemployment rate dipped. Although the numbers pointed to a resilient labor market that could push up wages and inflation, they were more widely interpreted as a sign that the Fed's tightening cycle may not plunge the world's largest economy into recession.
The Federal Open Market Committee is tipped to hold rates at their current range of 5.25% to 5.50% on Wednesday. Much of the focus will likely be on comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, as he faces pressure to lay out a timeline for future rate cuts. Powell, who has stressed that the Fed will only move «carefully,» is still expected to attempt to
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