Investing.com – U.S. stock index futures fell slightly in after-hours trading on Sunday after concerns over high interest rates sparked volatile swings on Wall Street, with the focus this week on key PCE inflation data to receive additional betting signals.
Trading volumes were low ahead of Memorial Day on Monday.
fell 0.1% to 5,316.25 and was down 0.2% at 18,837.50 by 7:53 pm ET (233 GMT). fell 0.1% to 39,122.0 points.
PCE inflation expected for new rate signals
The data, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation indicator, will be released this Friday.
While the data is expected to show some cooling in personal spending and consumption, it also comes after a series of Fed warnings that persistent inflation will delay any potential interest rate cut this year.
Those warnings have led investors to gradually reset expectations for a rate cut in September, which was initially thought to be the point at which the Fed would begin easing policy. The tool now shows that investors are pricing in a greater likelihood that the Fed will keep rates steady in September.
Wall Street sees rising volatility near record highs
Wall Street indexes hit all-time highs last week, driven by positive earnings, especially from market favorite NVIDIA (NASDAQ:).
That helped tech companies also reach a record close on Friday. Last week there was also some growth.
But most other stock sectors fell, with mixed weekly results.
While the S&P ended last week virtually unchanged, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is considered more economically sensitive, fell more than 2%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 added 0.7% to 5,304.72 and the Nasdaq rose 1.1% to a record high of 16,920.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended trading at 39,069.59.