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Stock futures were lower Monday morning to start March’s last—and shortened—trading week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slid 83 points, or 0.2%, to 39,785.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 17.25 points, or 0.3%, to 5,276.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite tumbled 99.75 points, or 0.5%, to 18,475.
The market is on track for its fifth consecutive month of gains, with the major U.S. stock benchmarks crossing new all-time closing high levels last week. The S&P 500 added roughly 2.3% last week, while the Dow gained just under 2% for its best week since December, nearing the 40,000 level. The NASDAQ Composite, meanwhile, jumped about 2.9% during the period.
These gains were fueled by the Federal Reserve’s latest remarks that maintained central bankers’ rate-cutting timeline for this year, as well as investors’ ongoing enthusiasm for tech stocks amid the AI-powered rally. Overall investor sentiment remains above its historical average, according to the latest weekly American Association of Individual Investors Sentiment Survey, reflecting persistent market optimism. Still, some investors fear the potential impact of an overextended rally and higher-for-longer interest rates.
This week, investors will gain further insight about the path of inflation from the February personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, released Friday morning. The market’s reaction will be determined on the following Monday given the Good Friday holiday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 0.2%,
Oil prices hiked 36 cents to $80.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $13.70 to $2,173.70 U.S. an ounce.
