Wall Street turned the page for another month, as stock futures rose slightly higher on Tuesday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 197 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 gained about 0.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose nearly 0.5%.
The move in futures came after a day of declines for stocks, with the Dow down 222.8 points, or 0.7%, after a choppy trading session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
For the month of May, there was little change in the Dow and the S&P 500, after last week’s strong rally ended a long losing streak for the index. The Nasdaq Composite underperformed, down more than 2%.
With first-quarter earnings season almost nearing completion and the Federal Reserve strongly indicating its intention to hike rates for its next two meetings, the stock could struggle for direction over the summer.
“It’s best to wait and see how the next quarter pans out. When we get to the end of July, we’ll have a better picture. Until then, I think we’re headed for further downside in a bear market.” We are going to see a very choppy market with a bias,” said Max Gokhman, Chief Investment Officer, Alphatrai.
One potential source of optimism for overnight markets is Salesforce, whose first-quarter results topped expectations. The stock rose more than 9% in extended trading.
Investors will get an updated look at the manufacturing and construction spending data on Wednesday. The first day of June also marks the beginning of the Fed’s plan to shrink its balance sheet, which reached nearly $9 trillion during the COVID pandemic.