Stock Futures Hold Gains After Best Nasdaq Day Since August

Stock futures opened in slightly positive territory on Tuesday, holding onto gains after a technological rebound during the regular session.

S&P 500 contracts rose. Earlier, Big Tech shares led the blue chip index higher as investors rushed to buy lower growth and tech names after a rout on Monday. That pushed the Nasdaq up 1.3% on the index’s best day since August.

So far in October, stocks have fluctuated between large gains and losses as investors struggle to determine whether the economic and political environment will be favorable enough for risky assets to prevent a repeat of September’s volatility. The CBOE volatility index, or A lot of noise, hovered above 20, having spent much of the summer in my mid-teens.

“We don’t know exactly what October has in store. I have a big question in mind: could this be the ugly sequel to September?” Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Markets Strategist, Invesco US, said Yahoo Finance Live Tuesday.

“Certainly what we’ve seen so far is that whenever there is a massive sell-off, investors are quick to step in and find opportunities,” she added. “I guess we’re probably going to see more volatility in the future as we anticipate the Fed’s phased-down announcement. And that creates an announcement where investors can cost dollars the average on down days in the markets. areas where they want it and where they want it. are interested in increasing their exposure. This probably isn’t the only massive sale we’ll see for October. “

One of the main concerns of the markets is inflation, as the prices of goods and services increase for both businesses and end users as demand remains high and supply chain constraints continue to weigh. Traders were waiting to see if these lingering problems eventually weigh on economic activity and corporate earnings, with details on the latter due to focus with the unofficial start of the third quarter earnings season next week with the big banks.

The story continues

At least for now, the latest batch of economic data has been largely bullish on the state of the US economy. Durable goods orders, retail sales and purchasing manager indices that track activity in the US manufacturing and services sector have all recently beaten expectations. However, this data also brought many signs of inflation: a sub-index tracking prices paid by suppliers has increased. in the latest index of services from the Institute for Supply Management, and personal consumption spending grew at the highest annual rate since 1991 based on government data released last week.

“It’s no surprise that global ‘stagflation’ is returning to everyone’s vernacular. Energy prices are rising, these freighters are piled up on both sides of the coast, shortages of everything … and these prices are rising. But the main news is good, “Simeon Hyman, head of investment strategy at ProShares Advisors, told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday.

“Is there going to be a little inflation? Probably. Are the rates going to go up? Just with a decrease, almost absolutely,” Hyman added. “But will there be a contraction in economic activity? Very unlikely – the economy should remain fairly strong.”

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6:10 p.m. ET Tuesday: Stock futures hold their gains

Here’s where the markets were trading Tuesday night:

• S&P 500 Futures Contracts (ES = F): +3.75 points (+ 0.09%), to 4,337.75

• Dow Futures (YM = F): +50 points (+ 0.15%), at 34,233.00

• Nasdaq Futures (NQ = F): +13.75 points (+ 0.09%) to 14,669.00

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter