U.S. stock futures were steady in overnight trading on Sunday after the S&P 500’s best week since 2020.
Dow futures edged up 15 points. S&P 500 futures rose 0.04% and Nasdaq 100 futures were flat.
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Last week, the three major averages notched their best week since November 2020, boosted largely by growth stocks. The S&P 500 surged 6.1% from Monday to Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week 5.5% higher, and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite spiked 8.1%.
“After one of the best weeks in years, now the question is will stocks be able to hold those gains? One bit of good news is April is historically one of the best months for stocks, so the calendar remains a positive for the bulls,” said Ryan Detrick of LPL Financial.
The S&P 500 recouped nearly half of its correction losses last week as investors received highly anticipated clarity from the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates for the first time since 2018. The central bank signaled it expects to raise rates at its remaining six meetings this year.
“I think the stage has been set by the Fed for investors to focus on earnings again,” said Julian Emanuel, head of equities, derivatives and quantitative strategy at Evercore ISI. “Bottom line…earnings estimates since the beginning of the year have risen.”
Market participants are also monitoring the war between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if peace talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin fail, it would mean the start of a third global war.
“If these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third world war,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that aired Sunday morning.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have met intermittently for peace talks, which have failed to progress to key concessions.
Investors are also evaluating a rise in Covid cases in Europe stemming from an emerging variant.
The economic calendar is relatively light this week but several companies report earnings. Nike and Tencent Music report quarterly results on Monday.
–CNBC’s Patti Domm contributed to this report.
