Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 17, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures were little changed on Sunday night, as a new month of trading begins.
S&P 500 futures ticked higher by 0.1% along with Nasdaq-100 futures. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 16 points, or less than 0.1%.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session that added to the benchmark’s October gains. The S&P 500 and Dow industrials climbed 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively, for the month. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining 4.7%.
Those gains were driven in part by continued momentum in the artificial intelligence trade as well as signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
More than 300 S&P 500 companies have posted third-quarter results thus far. Of those, over 80% have beaten expectations, according to FactSet. Wall Street will get another 100-plus companies reporting this week, including AI-related names Palantir and AMD.
“Fundamentally, the U.S. earnings picture remains strong and supported by these 3 factors: AI spending visibility remains strong and Amazon’s strong 3Q25 report is the latest evidence of this; financials are driving innovation via blockchain; the Fed is dovish and lowering interest rates; and QT (quantitative tightening) is ending Dec 1,” wrote Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat.
Wall Street may get a seasonality boost this month. Data from the Stock Trader’s Almanac shows the S&P 500 averages a 1.8% gain in November, making it the strongest month historically for the benchmark.
Investors also kept an eye on Washington, as the U.S. government remains shut down. The stoppage has delayed several key economic data releases, including the monthly jobs report.
On top of that, the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on legality of the Trump administration’s tariffs.
