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U.S. stock futures crept higher as investors awaited a busy stretch of corporate earnings and evaluated the prospect of smaller interest-rate increases later this year.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.3% Monday, while those tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. Contracts tied to the technology-focused Nasdaq-100 edged up 0.1%.
Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched to its best three-week stretch since November 2020, offering investors a reprieve from the selling pressure that has whipsawed portfolios this year. The rally was kicked off, in part, by a batch of corporate earnings—particularly from banks and airlines—that offered an encouraging outlook on the U.S. economy. Stocks then raced higher on Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported that Federal Reserve officials are likely to consider the possibility of shifting to smaller interest-rate increases in December.
Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds declined after the report and continued to slide Monday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 4.177%, from 4.212% Friday. The yield on the two-year note, which is more sensitive to interest-rate expectations, fell to 4.479%, from 4.489%.
A sharp selloff in major indexes in Asia—including a 6.4% drop in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index—weighed on sentiment. The selloff, which also hit indexes in mainland China, came after Chinese leader
Xi Jinping
cemented his control over the ruling Communist Party by appointing a number of loyalists to the party’s most powerful decision-making body and getting a convention-defying third term.
Investors also remain on edge about what is expected to be a busy week of earnings reports. Despite some early reports that have shown signs of optimism, fewer companies than usual are beating Wall Street’s earnings expectations. Traders this week will parse reports from blue-chip companies including
and
in addition to megacap technology companies including
and Google parent
In premarket trading, U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies tumbled, with
Alibaba’s
American depositary receipts losing 12% and those for
losing 11%.
Tesla’s
shares lost 2.9% after the company lowered prices for vehicles sold in China, the world’s biggest electric-vehicle market. Prices for the Tesla’s popular Models Y and 3 sold in China have been cut by as much as 9.4%, according to a social-media post by the company Monday.
In Europe, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.6%, trimming earlier gains after a key measure of eurozone manufacturing and services activity fell by more than expected in October.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., stocks rose. The FTSE 250 of more domestically oriented stocks gained 0.6% after Boris Johnson pulled out of the race for prime minister, leaving
Rishi Sunak,
the U.K.’s former Treasury chief, as the favorite for the job. U.K. government bond prices rallied, sending yields lower. The yield on the U.K.’s 10-year gilt fell to 3.877%, from 4.052% Friday. The British pound ticked up to $1.1323 from $1.1304 late Friday.
Traders worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange last week.
Photo:
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
In Asia, China’s CSI 300 dropped 2.9% and the Shanghai Composite fell 2%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 bucked the trend, rising 0.3% amid a possible yen-buying intervention by the Japanese government.
Write to Caitlin McCabe at caitlin.mccabe@wsj.com
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