Investing.com– U.S. stock index futures steadied in evening deals on Monday after a rally in technology shares spurred record highs on Wall Street, with focus turning to a string of key upcoming earnings and economic readings.
Trading volumes were somewhat slim on account of a federal holiday, although U.S. stock indexes were already perched at record highs after some strong bank earnings on Friday.
S&P 500 Futures rose slightly to 5,911.25 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures steadied at 20,622.0 points by 19:12 ET (23:12 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.1% to 43,404.0 points.
Tech gains put Wall St at record highs
Gains in major technology stocks were the biggest boost to U.S. markets on Monday, with market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) 2.4% surging to a record high. The stock steadied in aftermarket trade, as chipmakers face a major test this week with earnings from ASML Holding (AS:ASML) NV (NASDAQ:ASML) and TSMC (NYSE:TSM)- both considered bellwethers for the sector.
Other tech majors including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also steadied in aftermarket trade after rising during the session.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to a record high of 5,859.85 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to a record high of 43,065.22 points on Monday. The NASDAQ Composite rose 0.9% to 18,502.64, and was back in sight of peaks hit earlier this year.
In addition to tech gains, stock markets were also buoyed by persistent bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points in November, following strong inflation readings for September.
Focus on Q3 earnings, econ. data
Investor focus was now squarely on the third-quarter earnings season, which is set to pick up in earnest on Tuesday.
Financial majors Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), and Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW) are set to report on Tuesday, as are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA).
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) rounds off the bank earnings on Wednesday, while Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) will report in the remainder of the week.
Investors will be watching whether corporate earnings persevered despite pressure from high interest rates and sticky inflation.
Along with the earnings, focus this week is also on retail sales data, as well as addresses from a string of Fed officials, for more cues on the economy and interest rates.
