The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a mixed open on Monday, with the Dow futures up by 0.1 percent but the Nasdaq futures down by 0.2 percent.
A decrease by shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) may weigh on the Nasdaq, as the AI darling is slumping by 2.1 percent in pre-market trading.
The drop by Nvidia comes amid news a Chinese regulator has launched an investigation into whether the chipmaker violated the country’s antimonopoly laws.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of closely watched inflation data later in the week.
Reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points next week, there is some uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue cutting rates early next year.
The major U.S. stock indexes all moved to the upside early in the session on Friday but turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory and reach new record closing highs, the narrower Dow pulled back into negative territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session near its best levels of the day, climbing 159.05 points or 0.8 percent to 19,859.77. The S&P 500 also rose 15.16 points or 0.3 percent to 6,090.27, but the Dow fell 123.19 points or 0.3 percent to 44,642.52.
The major averages also turned in a mixed performance for the first week of December. The Dow slid by 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 1.0 percent and the Nasdaq surged by 3.3 percent.
The Dow pulled back further off the record closing high set on Wednesday amid a continued slump by shares of UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH).
UnitedHealth tumbled by 5.1 percent, adding to the 5.2 percent drop seen on Thursday on the heels of Wednesday’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 benefited from a positive reaction to a closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of November.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 227,000 jobs in November after rising by an upwardly revised 36,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 12,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October. The modest increase matched economist estimates.
The uptick by the unemployment rate increased confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.
“Despite the strong headline number this morning, the Fed is likely to note the overall slowing in the job market and cut rates by 25 bps in 2 weeks, unless the next CPI report is white hot,” said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer, Northlight Asset Management.
He added, “Given the positive backdrop of strong economic growth, a healthy labor market, and inflation that is relatively contained, the Fed can keep cutting rates and that should allow the bull market to run into the end of the year and into early next year.”
In other U.S. economic news, the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by slightly more than anticipated in the month of December.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index climbed to 74.0 in December from 71.8 in November. Economists had expected the index to rise to 73.0.
However, the report also said year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 2.9 percent in December from 2.6 percent in November, reaching a six-month high.
Computer hardware stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index jumping by 2.1 percent to its best closing level in well over four months.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 10.6 percent after Citigroup upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Buy from Neutral.
Considerable strength was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.
On the other hand, oil service stocks moved sharply lower, resulting in a 3.5 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.
Oil producer stocks also came under pressure amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, while notable weakness also emerged among natural gas, steel and gold stocks.
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