US pre-open: Stocks to edge higher but markets seen quiet on Columbus Day
US futures pointed to a slightly firmer open on Wall Street on Monday, although trading was expected to be fairly quiet, with no Fedspeak or notable data releases due on Columbus Day.
At 1255 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up 0.2%. On Friday, stocks edged lower after the latest non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy lost 33,000 jobs in September even as the unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low of 4.2%.
Economists had expected payrolls to grow by 90,000 and for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 4.4%. Despite the disappointment, Friday’s stock market losses were minimal as market participants had been pricing in an underwhelming print due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Konstantinos Anthis at ADS Securities said: “Moving forward, this week the dollar's price action will be dictated by the upcoming reports and how these will shape expectations regarding another rate hike from the Fed in December but also from any rising geopolitical risks. The Fed minutes scheduled for release on Wednesday are expected to reflect a positive bias on the progress of the domestic economy and the Retail Sales report at the end of the week is expected to print higher.
“Strong business activity last month and rising wage levels should send Retail Sales figures sharply higher which will be supportive of Fed's intention to raise rates again by the end of the year. To sum it all up, we believe that the bias for the dollar is positive and unless we see any fresh provocation from N. Korea the US currency should trade with a bullish tone throughout the next sessions.”
On the corporate front, General Electric was a little higher in pre-market trade on news that some of its top executives are leaving .
Data centre company Switch Inc was under the cosh, however, after surging 23% in its trading debut on Friday.