Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Set to Open Down; Nvidia, Oracle, Broadcom; Fed Rate Hopes; Treasury Yields Fall

U.S. stock futures were pointing to small losses at the open on Monday. The market is gauging what’s to come at the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy meeting and the potential for a bigger rate cut than previously expected.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 18 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were dropping 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 0.2%.

The focus of the week will be the Fed meeting, when the central bank is expected to begin its rate-cutting cycle on Wednesday. Fed-fund futures now price in a slightly higher chance of a 50 basis-point cut than a 25 basis-point cut.

“Investors seem to be favoring a ‘front-loaded’ scenario for the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle. This is premised on the view that if the Fed has decided that the time has come for rate cuts, then why not get rates back to some kind of neutral level as quickly as possible without sparking a panic?” wrote ING analyst Chris Turner in a research note.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.646% early Monday, ticking down from the previous week.

Elsewhere, there are earnings reports from General Mills on Wednesday, and FedEx on Thursday, with the latter particularly often watched as a barometer for economic health.

The dollar falls to a one-and-a-half-week low on rising bets of a large interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

The market sees a nearly 60% chance of a 50 basis-points rate cut as opposed to 25 basis points, according to LSEG Refinitiv. A 50 basis-point cut could lift EUR/USD above 1.12 and weaken USD/JPY further below 140, Unicredit Research analysts said in a note.

“A 25bp rate cut by the Fed, which we expect, might prevent the dollar from losing ground but will probably not be enough to spark a strong recovery of the U.S. unit across the board,” they said.

The DXY dollar index falls to 100.712. EUR/USD trades at 1.1116 and USD/JPY at 139.836.

U.S. Stocks Set to Drop as Traders Look Ahead to Fed Meeting

U.S. stock futures were pointing to small losses at the open on Monday. The market is gauging what’s to come at the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy meeting and the potential for a bigger rate cut than previously expected.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 18 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were dropping 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures were falling 0.2%.

The focus of the week will be the Fed meeting, when the central bank is expected to begin its rate-cutting cycle on Wednesday. Fed-fund futures now price in a slightly higher chance of a 50 basis-point cut than a 25 basis-point cut.

“Investors seem to be favoring a ‘front-loaded’ scenario for the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle. This is premised on the view that if the Fed has decided that the time has come for rate cuts, then why not get rates back to some kind of neutral level as quickly as possible without sparking a panic?” wrote ING analyst Chris Turner in a research note.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.646% early Monday, ticking down from the previous week.

Elsewhere, there are earnings reports from General Mills on Wednesday, and FedEx on Thursday, with the latter particularly often watched as a barometer for economic health.