Wall Street was set to open higher on Monday, with the main U.S. stock indexes poised to recoup some losses following a turbulent trading week, ahead of key corporate earnings and the final phase before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Dow E-minis were up 143 points, or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 27.5 points, or 0.47%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 133.25 points, or 0.65%.
The main focus was on events in the week ahead, most notably corporate results, with around 169 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report through the week.
That includes the bulk of the "Magnificent Seven" group of megacap technology giants that have been Wall Street's biggest drivers this year, as equities rallied to all-time highs.
Alphabet rose 2.2%, Meta Platforms was up 1.5% and Microsoft was 0.8% higher in premarket trading, ahead of their results later in the week.
Apple and Amazon.com also report this week. The five companies jointly make up about 23% of the S&P 500's weightage, and investor reaction to their results will be a key determining factor in whether indexes continue to climb or retreat.
"It would be an understatement to say it's a huge week for earnings as five of the largest companies in the world report," said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.
"Capital expenditure will continue to be a major focus as they spend feverishly due to strong AI demand ... will this be perceived as money well spent or will the stocks get punished?"
AI-chip heavyweight Nvidia rose 1%. It had briefly become the world's most valuable company on Friday.
Israel's response to an Iranian missile attack earlier this month focused, so far, on missile factories and other sites near Tehran, rather than on refineries or nuclear targets, assuaging some worries about the situation in the region.
"The market is worried about a real escalation in the war in the Middle East, and that doesn't seem to (be) that likely, based on the recent attack" said Jan von Gerich, chief analyst at Nordea.
Shares of oil companies fell as crude prices slumped 5%, with Exxon Mobil losing 2.9% and Occidental Petroleum dropping 2.7%.
An uptick in yields in the past week unsettled equities and saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snap their six-week winning streaks as investors increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to be less dovish than initially expected.
Economic data due this week will be crucial for that assessment, most notably the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures index - the Fed's preferred inflation measure - and the crucial nonfarm payrolls report.
Investors all but expect a 25-basis point rate reduction at the U.S. central bank's next meeting, according to CME's FedWatch.
Focus was also on the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, with markets more broadly pricing in a second Donald Trump administration.
Boeing's shares dipped 1.6% after the planemaker launched a stock offering that could raise up to $19 billion in a bid to shore up its finances amid an ongoing worker strike. - Reuters
