Stock futures little changed as Wall Street looks to set to hold on to gains

U.S. stock futures were little changed early Tuesday morning as Wall Street looked to hold on to gains from its February hot streak. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points. Those for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 hovered near the flat line. The move in futures comes after the three major indexes set another round of record highs on Monday. The Dow and S&P 500 have now advanced for six straight sessions, while the Nasdaq Composite has finished in the green on five of those six days.

The Russell 2000 led the way on Monday, jumping 2.5% to its own record high. The index has gained nearly 16% year to date. A strong earnings season and improving data on the Covid pandemic and vaccinations are two factors that are helping to push stocks higher, said Victoria Fernandez, Chief Market Strategist at Crossmark Global Investments. She also said that some underlying data in last week’s jobs report, including an increase in hours worked, were encouraging even if the headline numbers showed a tepid recovery.

Given those trends, it would take a major change in the environment to cause anything more than a minor pullback, Fernandez said. The solid run for stocks has come as lawmakers in Washington appear to be moving closer to another economic relief bill, even as former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial begins. House Democrats on Monday unveiled the details of a relief proposal that included $1,400 direct checks with faster phase outs than previous bills.

Stock futures little changed as Wall Street looks to set to hold on to gains, CNBC, Feb 9