Investing.com — U.S. stock index futures continued their strong run from last week on Monday on generally strong tech earnings ahead of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting.
As of 6:35 p.m. ET (10:35 p.m. Japan time), it was up 52 points (0.1%), up 8 points (0.2%) and up 43 points (0.2%).
Tech giants Alphabet (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) posted big first-quarter profits, with demand for artificial intelligence helping to keep profits and valuations positive in coming months. Expectations led to a rally in technology stocks overall last week.
That helped the tech-heavy company overtake its peers on Friday, closing the day up 2%, while the company also rose 1% and rose 0.4%.
Earnings season continues
Earnings season is set to continue this week, with more Wall Street giants expected to make announcements in the coming days.
After a relatively quiet day on Monday, Amazon (NASDAQ:), Coca-Cola (NYSE:), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:), and Eli Lilly (NYSE:) will report earnings on Tuesday. It’s planned.
Fed meeting in focus as interest rate cut expectations fade
Activity is likely to be calm this week ahead of this week’s policy meeting.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold in May, and with inflation subdued and U.S. consumer spending recovering to some extent, there is growing speculation that the Fed will start cutting rates in September or in the fourth quarter. ing.
March inflation, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure on Friday, was higher than expected, giving little confidence the Fed will start cutting rates and likely keeping rates high for a longer period of time. There was growing concern that this might happen.
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Oil collapses hopes for peace in the Middle East
Oil prices fell on Monday as peace talks between Israel and Hamas eased concerns about escalating conflict in the Middle East and potentially disrupting supplies from key regions.
By 6:35 a.m. ET, U.S. crude oil futures were trading 0.3% lower at $83.63 a barrel, and Brent crude oil futures were trading 0.3% lower at $87.93 a barrel.
Hamas officials told Reuters on Sunday that a Hamas delegation was scheduled to visit Cairo on Monday for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire, and that the group was responding to Israel’s latest Gaza phased ceasefire proposal submitted on Saturday. He said it is expected that he will respond.
(Amber Warrick contributed to this article.)
