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The stock market went out on a high note last week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, market cap-weighted S&P 500, equal-weighted S&P 500, and S&P Midcap 400 all hit new record highs. The Russell 2000 did not, but it still led all indices on Friday with a 2.1% gain.
The trading volume behind those moves wasn't particularly heavy, yet the gains count just the same. Volume could be on the lighter side today too. Japan's stock market was closed in observance of National Sports Day, Canadian markets are closed for Thanksgiving Day, and the U.S. Treasury market is closed in observance of Columbus Day.
There isn't any U.S. economic data of note with the Treasury market closed and there are no earnings reports of note scheduled for today.
After Friday's close, however, Dow component Boeing (BA) warned of a Q3 revenue shortfall and said it is planning to reduce the size of its total workforce by roughly 10%. Shares of the embattled aircraft manufacturer are down 1.6% in pre-market action, pressuring the futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up 14 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 87 points and are trading 0.4% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 59 points and are trading 0.1% below fair value.
The broader market is holding up fine thanks to pre-market strength among the mega-cap stocks. That includes NVIDIA (NVDA), which is up 1.2%, and Tesla (TSLA), which is up 1.4% following the 8.8% decline it suffered Friday in the wake of its disappointing robotaxi reveal.
The early leadership of the mega-cap stocks feels like a fallback trade on a morning that is lacking in corporate news. It's like participants are choosing what is thought to be the safest trade, not wanting to be out of the stock market but not wanting to chase it either without a clear-cut catalyst to bolster their conviction.
Major catalysts may have to wait until later in the week with the ECB policy meeting Thursday creating headlines alongside the initial jobless claims, retail sales, industrial production, Philadelphia Fed Index, and NAHB Housing Market Index reports.
China's Ministry of Finance had an opportunity over the weekend to provide a bigger market-moving catalyst, but it fell short with a lack of financial detail when it said China aims to provide more support for the property sector and is inclined to issue more debt to help drive growth in the economy.
The Shanghai Composite still managed a 2.1% gain and finished Monday's trade close to its high for the session.
The U.S. indices look far more subdued overall, but continue to show good resilience to selling interest -- and that is what participants need to see to keep the paper chase going.
