U.S. stock index futures pointed to a largely unchanged open on Tuesday, suggesting equities may take a breather after a strong rally in the prior session.
Following several days of pronounced volatility, investors appear poised to step back and reassess the near-term market landscape. Monday’s advance extended the powerful rebound that began on Friday, undoing much of last week’s steep declines across the major benchmarks.
Futures held steady even after long-delayed U.S. economic data was released, including September retail sales and producer price figures.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.2% in September, missing expectations for a 0.4% gain and slowing from the 0.6% increase in August. Excluding autos, sales were up 0.3%, compared with forecasts of 0.4%.
Separately, the Labor Department said producer prices climbed 0.3% in September, matching estimates and reversing the 0.1% dip recorded in August. The annual PPI increase held at 2.7%, unchanged from the revised August level and in line with economists’ projections.
ADP added another data point, noting that U.S. private-sector employers shed an average of 13,500 jobs per week over the four weeks ending November 8th—worse than the average weekly loss of 2,500 seen in the prior four-week stretch.
Monday’s surge was particularly strong in technology shares. The Nasdaq soared 598.92 points, or 2.7%, to 22,872.01, nearly erasing last week’s sharp drop. The S&P 500 gained 102.13 points, or 1.6%, to 6,705.12, while the Dow advanced a more modest 202.86 points, or 0.4%, to 46,448.27.
The rebound followed heavy selling earlier in the week, as concerns over stretched valuations and the future path of interest rates dragged the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to their lowest closes in over two months last Thursday. Despite Friday’s partial recovery, all three benchmarks logged significant weekly losses: the Nasdaq fell 2.7%, the S&P 500 slid 2.0%, and the Dow lost 1.9%.
Sentiment received an additional lift from renewed optimism around progress in negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “tremendous progress” had been made in discussions with Ukrainian officials and described remaining sticking points in the Trump administration’s peace framework as “not insurmountable.”
Markets also responded to another round of dovish signals from the Federal Reserve. In a Fox Business interview Tuesday morning, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he supports a further quarter-point rate cut in December. His comments followed similar remarks last week from New York Fed President John Williams, who said he sees “room for a further adjustment” to rates.
CME’s FedWatch tool now reflects an 84.9% probability of a quarter-point cut next month, up sharply from 42.4% just one week ago.
Semiconductors led Monday’s rally, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping 4.6% as it continued to climb back from last Thursday’s two-month low. Hardware and networking stocks also posted strong gains, contributing to the Nasdaq’s outsized move.
Beyond technology, gold miners surged alongside rising bullion prices, pushing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up 5.8%. Airline, brokerage, and biotech stocks also showed notable strength, with most major sectors finishing the session in positive territory.