Stock futures edged upwards on Sunday night, following the historic closure of the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the significant 40,000 milestone for the first time on Friday.
Contracts linked to the 30-stock index experienced a marginal uptick of less than 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also showed slight gains.
During Thursday’s trading session, the Dow initially breached the 40,000 mark, solidifying its breakthrough with a closing figure above this threshold on Friday, with a gain of 134.21 points, or 0.3%, concluding the day at 40,003.59. The S&P 500 saw a modest increase of 0.1% on Friday, whereas the Nasdaq Composite registered a slight dip of less than 0.1%.
Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, expressed optimism regarding the continuation of the current market rally, particularly in the short term. In correspondence, Lee noted, “As we stated earlier this month, we expected markets to shift from ‘fear of May’ to buy in May; and as each week has passed, this has been the case. Looking into next week, we expect this to continue.”
Lee emphasized the imminent prominence of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks in the upcoming week, pointing out several potential drivers, including Microsoft Build event scheduled from Tuesday to Thursday and Nvidia’s fiscal first-quarter results, set to be disclosed Wednesday afternoon.
“Overall, we expect these events/earnings to reinforce the improving visibility and capabilities of AI and the related spending. And as a consequence, will be an overall positive for Technology stocks and the broader market,” Lee elaborated.
Companies such as Palo Alto Networks, AutoZone, Target, Analog Devices, Intuit, and Ralph Lauren are slated to announce their financial results in the approaching days. Additionally, Wednesday will see the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April 30 to May 1 meeting, with investors also keeping a close eye on various economic indicators such as existing home sales, jobless claims, and durable goods orders.
