Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures steady with Wall Street awaiting expected Fed rate cut

U.S. stock futures remained calm on Sunday evening as Wall Street headed into a pivotal week dominated by the Federal Reserve’s final policy meeting in 2025.

Futures contracts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), S&P 500 (ES=F), and Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were all trending around the horizontal line.

The modest moves followed consecutive weeks of gains in major indicators. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.3% last week, while the Dow (^DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively. Markets were buoyed after September PCE data showed a slight impact on “core” expenses.

There will be a series of economic announcements next week, including the Fed’s meeting of interest rate setters on Tuesday. The public is watching the Fed carefully ahead of Chairman Jerome Powell’s announcement and press conference on Wednesday and is confident that the rate cut will reach optimistic highs.

Expectations for a rate cut have increased recently; Fed fund futures now imply an 88% chance of an easing move; This is much higher than the below 67% seen a month ago. CME FedWatch.

The labor market will also be the focus of attention after the mixed data received last week. Tuesday finally brings the delayed October JOLTS report, which offers a read on hiring activity, layoffs and the rate at which workers are leaving jobs.

On the earnings side, focus will be on Oracle (ORCL) and Adobe (ADBE) quarterly results on Wednesday, while Broadcom (AVGO) and Costco (COST) will be in the spotlight on Thursday.