The S&P 500 is expected to hit record highs on producer price and sentiment data.
U.S. stock index futures suggested the S&P 500 could hit a record high on Friday, with the technology sector likely set for a third straight gain as new economic data emerges.
How to trade stock index futures
S&P 500 futures ES00,
+0.22%
Up 5 points to 5,051.50Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures YM00,
-0.09%
It closed at 38,813, down 45 points (0.1%).NASDAQ-100 futures NQ00,
+0.61%
It rose 85.75 points (0.4%) to 17,998.50.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 SPX rose 0.6% to 5,029.73, slightly above last week’s close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 0.9% to 38,773.12 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.3% to 15,906.17.
What is driving the market
Thursday’s new record for the S&P 500 comes amid mixed manufacturing data and a sharp decline in retail sales in January. That tempered some expectations about the pace of the Fed’s interest rate cuts after a shocking inflation report earlier this week.
“But if retail sales had remained strong, investors would have been happy to see the U.S. economy underperforming,” said senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. At Swissquote Bank.
“We are at a point where economic data has become meaningless. Whatever the data, the U.S. stock market looks for a positive story to sustain its rally. Of course, that is blind optimism. Investors were blinded by the sheen of a rate cut at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
It’s off to another busy day for investors, starting with January housing starts and the Producer Price Index expected to fall 0.1% (both as of 8:30 a.m.). The University of Michigan’s February consumer sentiment preliminary survey is scheduled for 10 p.m. is
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael Barr is scheduled to speak at 9:10 a.m. and San Francisco President Mary Daley is scheduled to speak at 12:10 p.m.
Technology stocks pulled ahead on Friday and the Nasdaq recorded its third straight positive session, but was down 0.5% for the week as of Thursday.
Applied Materials Inc. shares of AMAT;
The chip equipment company surged 13% in pre-market trading after it gave upbeat results and guidance after the close on Thursday. Among other big sector names, Tesla Inc. There are shares of TSLA.
Nvidia Corp. 2% increase in pre-market transactions with NVDA;
Up 1.5%. Nvidia is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings next week.
