Stock futures rise after large rally on Wall Street amid vaccine approval

Stock futures edged up in overnight trading on Monday following a widespread rally over news that U.S. regulators have granted full approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid vaccine.

Futures contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures contracts both rose 0.2%.

The market started the week on a positive note as stocks susceptible to an economic recovery jumped on optimism that vaccine approval would pave the way for more mandates in the face of the spread of the delta variant.

“Given the recent spike in cases and some of the disappointing economic data, this is another step in the right direction, and it helps to give confidence to those who may still be waiting to get vaccinated,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist. at LPL Financière.

The S&P 500 closed Monday’s session 0.8% higher after hitting an intraday high. The Nasdaq Composite rose about 1.5% to a high-end closing record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 200 points on Monday.

Investors are considering the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week, which is expected to be an evolving event in the market where central bankers could detail their plans to cut monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve has started talks to withdraw its $ 120 billion-per-month bond purchase program by the end of this year.

The summit takes place virtually on Thursday and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech on Friday.

“The Fed may make a cut announcement in September or November, but it will likely be a slow cut with no commitment on interest rate hikes.” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

The second quarter earnings season is drawing to a close with over 90% of S&P 500 companies reporting results. The S&P 500 is set to increase profits by 94.7% year on year, according to Refinitiv.

Best Buy is expected to release the numbers before the bell Tuesday, and Nordstrom will report after the close.