S&P 500 futures are little changed after index closes at a record: Live updates

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A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 2, 2024.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Stock futures were near flat Monday night after the S&P 500 concluded the first session of December's trading month at an all-time closing high.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both sat near their flatlines. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 27 points, or less than 0.1%.

Those moves follow a mixed session on Wall Street. Both the broad S&P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at records on Monday after hitting fresh intraday highs.

However, the Dow ended more than 100 points, or about 0.3%, lower. That is despite the blue-chip index at one point topping the closely watched 45,000 level during the day.

Investors will watch for the October job openings report on Tuesday. It is the first in a salvo of data releases expected this week that can provide insight into the strength of the labor market. The main event will be Friday's November payrolls report.

The data arrives ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Dec. 17-18. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a nearly 75% probability that the central bank lowers interest rates during its policy gathering, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

"Labor is very important," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. But "we should not see anything that would upend investors' expectations that the Fed will cut rates again when they meet in December."

Traders will also monitor Tuesday speeches from Fed Governor Adriana Kugler and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee slated for the afternoon.

On the earnings front, investors will follow releases from Salesforce and Okta due after the bell.

Global investors see U.S. equities as more favorable over their international counterparts, Morgan Stanley says

Even global investors are preferring U.S. equities over their international counterparts, according to Morgan Stanley. The firm's global director of research cited recent conversations with investors at an Asia Pacific summit as the source of the information.

"Overall, we expect a balanced earnings recovery across sectors, supported by favorable conditions such as subdued interest rates and broadening EPS growth," the bank wrote in a note from Sunday.

The bank added that it is currently overweight financials in the U.S., citing "anticipated earnings improvement, accelerating capital markets activity, and potential regulatory relaxations post-election." On the other hand, high price levels and interest rates have contributed to an underweight within the U.S. consumer goods sector.

— Lisa Kailai Han

New York Fed President Williams says it will take time to reach 2% inflation goal over long term

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said Monday that there's more work to be done on the battle against inflation.

"Inflation remains above our 2% longer-run target, and it will take some time to achieve our inflation goal on a sustained basis," he said in prepared remarks delivered in New York.

However, Williams said there are "reasons to be confident" that inflation will hit 2% on an annualized basis, which is the goal of monetary policymakers.

The New York Fed is uniquely important in the Federal Reserve by implementing monetary policy for the Federal Open Market Committee, acting as the main agent for the central bank to intervene in the currency market and because its president is a permanent member of the FOMC.

Williams' remarks come after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he was expecting another interest rate cut at the central bank's next policy meeting scheduled for later this month. However, Waller said he was concerned about recent inflation trends.

— Alex Harring

The key to the stock market may lie in bonds, JPMorgan technician says

One corner of the bond market is flashing a bullish signal for stocks, according to Jason Hunter, head of technical strategy at JPMorgan.

The 10-year breakeven inflation rate is contained in a range below 2.40% and 2.50%, a suggestion that inflation fears are contained, and is a positive signal for the stock market, Hunter told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Monday.

"You're already starting to see that broadening and the breadth start to expand," Hunter said.

He expects the next big upside target for the S&P 500 late this year or early next is 6,195. The broad market index was last hovering below 6,050. He's positive on the S&P 500 Equal Weight and Russell 2000.

— Sarah Min

See the stocks moving after the bell

These are some of the stocks moving in after-hours trading on Monday:

Tesla — The electric vehicle maker slipped 1.7% after a Delaware judge denied the reinstatement of CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package. The judge upheld her prior ruling on the case.
Zscaler — The cloud security stock dropped 7.2%. Guidance for the fiscal second quarter disappointed investors, as Zscaler sees adjusted earnings ranging from 68 cents to 69 cents per share, roughly in line with analysts' forecasts, per LSEG.
Credo Technology Group — The technology stock surged 32.8% after the company topped earnings expectations and posted strong guidance for current-quarter revenue. Credo reported 7 cents per share, excluding items, on $72 million in revenue for the second fiscal quarter. Analysts had forecast earnings of 5 cents per share and revenue of $67 million, per LSEG.