Stock futures inch higher as S&P 500 looks to wrap up 7th winning month in a row

Inventory futures rose barely in in a single day buying and selling on Monday because the S&P 500 appears to wrap up its seventh straight month of good points at a document excessive.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Common gained 40 factors. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures have been flat.

Zoom shares fell greater than 11% in after-hours buying and selling on Monday after the video-conferencing software program firm confirmed slowing income progress within the second quarter. The drop in shares got here at the same time as Zoom’s earnings beat estimates and the corporate raised full-year steerage because the pandemic took a flip for the more serious.

Tuesday marks the final buying and selling day of August, and main averages are poised to put up stable good points. The S&P 500 is up 3% this month, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has climbed 4%, on tempo to put up its third successful month in a row. The blue-chip Dow is up a extra modest 1.3%.

“Regardless of rising geopolitical dangers, peak financial progress issues, and the Federal Reserve shifting nearer to tapering its asset buy program, the regular ascent of shares continues,” Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist, mentioned in a word.

The S&P 500 managed to climb up a wall of fear to document highs with out even a 5% pullback this 12 months. The broad fairness benchmark has rallied greater than 20% in 2021 after notching its 53rd document shut in Monday’s session.

Stellar company earnings have offered valuation help and the idea for inventory costs to march increased. With the second-quarter reporting season winding down, the S&P 500 is on observe to put up an earnings progress charge of 95.4%, which might be the quickest tempo because the fourth quarter of 2009.

“We consider we’re nonetheless within the early innings of the cycle and that robust financial and earnings progress and comparatively low charges by 2022 ought to help increased fairness costs and maintain the bull market,” Wells Fargo strategists mentioned in a word.

Traders are awaiting a key jobs report on Friday forward of the Labor Day weekend. Economists polled by Dow Jones count on 750,000 jobs have been created in August and the unemployment charge fell to five.2%.

On the political entrance, the Pentagon mentioned the U.S. has completed its evacuation efforts from Kabul’s airport, successfully ending America’s longest conflict.