Futures signal more steam in S&P 500 after record high By Reuters

By Ankika Biswas and vtmarketsapp foreign exchange trading platformJohann M Cherian

(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday, indicating further momentum in the after chip and megacap stocks drove the benchmark index to a record high last week, while corporate earnings and clues on rate cuts continued to top investors' radar.

Wall Street's main indexes stalled at the start of 2024 after the prior year's stellar run, as investors reassessed a quicker start to interest-rate cuts in light of mixed economic data and Federal Reserve policymakers playing down such bets.

A rally in chip stocks following bullish forecasts from Taiwan's TSMC and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:) last week, and heavyweight technology stocks steered the S&P 500 to a record high of 4,842.07 points and an all-time closing high of 4,839.81 points on Friday, confirming a bull market since its October 2022 closing low.

The and the S&P 500 information technology index have jumped nearly 5% so far in January, among the top sectoral gainers, hitting all-time highs last week.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:) gained 1.0% in premarket trading after hitting its highest level on Friday, while Marvell (NASDAQ:) Technology, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:) climbed over 1% each.

Megacaps Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) and Tesla (NASDAQ:) also gained between 0.9% and 1.0%.

"Investors increasingly view these stocks as 'bulletproof' because even if the global economy loses steam, demand for AI products will still remain elevated, shielding corporate profits from any macroeconomic headwinds," said Marios Hadjikyriacos, senior investment analyst at XM.

Meanwhile, big-ticket earnings later this week from Netflix (NASDAQ:), Tesla, (NYSE:), Intel (NASDAQ:) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:), among others, will be keenly watched for insights into the health of corporate America.

United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:), Brown & Brown (NYSE:) and Zions Bancorp are set to detail their earnings after market close.

So far, 84.6% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported results have surpassed earnings expectations, LSEG data showed on Friday, compared with the 93.1% beat seen in the previous week.

On the economic data front this week, personal consumption expenditure (PCE)- the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, S&P Global PMI readings and an advance fourth-quarter GDP print will be crucial in assessing the central bank's next policy decision when it meets next week.

Traders have sharply pared bets of an at least 25-basis-point rate cut in March, currently standing at 46%, according to the CME Group's (NASDAQ:) FedWatch Tool, from the over 80% chances seen by 2023-end.

At 7:09 a.m. ET, were up 61 points, or 0.16%, were up 16.5 points, or 0.34%, and were up 113.5 points, or 0.65%.

Among others, Boeing (NYSE:) lost 1.5% after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recommended airlines operating the company's 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs to ensure they are properly secured.

Renewable energy firm SolarEdge (NASDAQ:) gained 2.7% on plans to lay off about 16% of its global workforce.

B. Riley Financial tumbled 13.5% after a report said U.S. authorities are investigating the wealth manager's deals with a client who was linked to a securities fraud, and the use of his assets to help the investment bank obtain a loan from (NYSE:).

Crypto stocks like Coinbase (NASDAQ:), Bitfarms and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:) lost over 2.1% as bitcoin prices declined.

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