(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Monday, pointing to more gains on Wall Street, as traders priced in a higher chance of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year.
The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow closed at three-week highs on Friday after data showed U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in April, taking pressure off the U.S. central bank to keep rates higher for longer.
Traders are currently pricing in rate cuts worth 48 basis points from the Fed by the end of 2024, with the first cut seen either in September or November, according to LSEG’s rate probability app. In recent weeks, traders had priced in just one cut due to signs of sticky inflation.
U.S. stock indexes appear to have stabilized after a rocky April, as a much better-than-expected first-quarter earnings season and hopes of U.S. monetary policy easing drew buyers back into the market.
The Fed last week left interest rates unchanged and signaled it was leaning toward eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but repeated that it wants to gain “greater confidence” that inflation will continue to fall before cutting rates.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin and New York Fed President John Williams are scheduled to speak later in the day, kicking off speeches from a host of U.S. central bank officials this week.
Key data for the week includes weekly jobless claims and U.S. consumer sentiment data for May.
At 5:44 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 13.25 points, or 0.26%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis rose 41.25 points, or 0.23%, while Dow e-minis climbed 88 points, or 0.23%.
Apple dipped 0.8% in premarket trading after the value of Berkshire’s stake in the iPhone maker fell 22% to $135.4 billion as of March 31 from $174.3 billion at the end of 2023.
Paramount Global added 4.7% after the media company ended its exclusive negotiations with Skydance Media without a deal, allowing the special committee to entertain other offers from rival bidders.
Perficient jumped 54% after Swedish private equity firm EQT AB said it would take the U.S.-based digital consultancy firm private in an all-cash deal valued at about $3 billion.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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