Stock futures are little changed after Dow, S&P 500 hit fresh records: Live updates

U.S. stock futures were little changed Sunday night following a strong week for the major averages, in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at fresh all-time highs.

Dow futures fell by 51 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.13% and 0.15%, respectively.

The stock market posted a solid weekly advance. The S&P 500 and Dow rose 1.2% and 1%, respectively, for the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2.2%. The small-cap Russell 2000 also surged 2.2%, posting its seventh straight week of gains.

Those moves come after the Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, the first reduction since December. It was a widely anticipated decision that, after some initial volatility, investors eventually took to mean the central bank has taken a dovish tilt amid rising signs of a slowing labor market.

Markets are now pricing in two more quarter-point cuts between now and the end of the year, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Investors will review upcoming macroeconomic data with even more care to ensure that the expected path of monetary easing remains intact.

“With equities near the highs and rates markets still pricing in [roughly] 5x additional cuts over the next year, further support for equities will hinge more on robust incoming macro data than on more dovishness in rates, in our view,” Barclays head of European equity strategy Emmanuel Cau wrote on Friday.

The coming week will bring the latest personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred inflation measure — which is expected to show elevated pricing pressures. Investors expect inflation to remain tame enough for the Fed to maintain its current stance on monetary policy.