By Investors Hub
The major US index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Monday, with stocks poised to add to the losses posted last week.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve?s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement next Wednesday.
With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, traders are likely to keep an eye on the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.
New Fed Chairman Jerome Powell?s first press conference as head of the central bank is also likely to attract considerable attention.
Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. The Dow and the S&P 500 spent most of the day in positive territory, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages all eventually closed higher, although the Nasdaq inched up just 0.25 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,481.99. The Dow rose 72.85 points or 0.3 percent to 24,946.51, and the S&P 500 edged up 4.68 points or 0.2 percent to 2,751.01.
Despite the upward move on the day, the major averages moved to the downside for the week. While the Dow slumped by 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slid by 1.2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
The higher close on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to reports showing an unexpected improvement in consumer sentiment and a bigger than expected jump in industrial production.
The University of Michigan said the preliminary reading on its consumer sentiment index for March came in at 102.0, up from the final February reading of 99.7. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 99.3.
“Consumer sentiment rose in early March to its highest level since 2004 due to a new all-time record favorable assessment of current economic conditions,” said Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economist.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed a substantial rebound in industrial production in the month of February.
The Fed said industrial production surged up by 1.1 percent in February after dipping by a revised 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.3 percent.
On the other hand, the Commerce Department released a report showing a pullback in new residential construction in the month of February.
The report said housing starts plunged by 7.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.236 million in February after jumping by 10.1 percent to a revised 1.329 million in January.
Economists had expected housing starts to drop by 2.7 percent to a rate of 1.290 million from the 1.326 million originally reported for the previous month.
The Commerce Department said building permits also tumbled by 5.7 percent to a rate of 1.298 million in February after surging up by 5.9 percent to a revised 1.377 million in January.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to slump by 5.4 percent to a rate of 1.32 million from the 1.396 million originally reported for the previous month.
Political uncertainty may have kept some traders on the sidelines amid reports President Donald Trump plans to remove national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
The White House has denied the reports, with press secretary Sarah Sanders saying there are “no changes” at the National Security Council.
After falling sharply in the previous session, energy stocks showed a strong move back to the upside on the day. The rebound by energy stocks came amid a significant increase by the price of crude oil.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 1.9 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index jumped by 1.5 percent.
Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. With the advance, the index reached its best closing level in well over a month.
Utilities, brokerage, and transportation stocks also moved notably higher on the day, while tobacco stocks showed a substantial move to the downside.
