A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 2, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stock futures were near flat Monday night after the S&P 500 concluded the first session of December’s trading month at an all-time closing high.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both sat near their flatlines. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 27 points, or less than 0.1%.
Those moves follow a mixed session on Wall Street. Both the broad S&P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at records on Monday after hitting fresh intraday highs.
However, the Dow ended more than 100 points, or about 0.3%, lower. That is despite the blue-chip index at one point topping the closely watched 45,000 level during the day.
Investors will watch for the October job openings report on Tuesday. It is the first in a salvo of data releases expected this week that can provide insight into the strength of the labor market. The main event will be Friday’s November payrolls report.
The data arrives ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Dec. 17-18. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a nearly 75% probability that the central bank lowers interest rates during its policy gathering, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.
“Labor is very important,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. But “we should not see anything that would upend investors’ expectations that the Fed will cut rates again when they meet in December.”
Traders will also monitor Tuesday speeches from Fed Governor Adriana Kugler and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee slated for the afternoon.
On the earnings front, investors will follow releases from Salesforce and Okta due after the bell.
