US stock index futures hold up as interest rate cuts cool; More Fed cues expected by Investing.com

Investing.com– U.S. stock index futures were little changed in evening trade on Sunday, as a rally on a higher interest rate cut ended, focusing on more signals from Federal Reserve this week.

Wall Street indexes hit record highs last week after the Fed cut interest rates and marked the start of an easing cycle. But gains cooled towards the end of the week, with future interest rate cuts still largely contingent on how the US economy plays out.

settled at 5,764.0 points, while rising 0.1% to 20,047.0 points by 19:42 ET (23:42 GMT). they remained unchanged at 42,443.0 points.

Fed cues, PCE inflation on tap this week

A number of Fed officials and rate-setting committee members will speak this week, most notably on Thursday.

The central bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points last week and marked the start of an easing cycle that could see rates fall by as much as 125 basis points this year.

While the move pushed Wall Street to record highs, overall gains were limited as the Fed took a less dovish medium- to long-term outlook.

The central bank signaled that neutral rates could be much higher than seen in the past.

The pace of the Fed’s easing cycle is also expected to depend heavily on the US economy. data – the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation – is due on Friday and is expected to provide more clues on interest rates. Inflation is still well above the Fed’s 2% annual target.

Dow, S&P 500 near record highs

Optimism about interest rate cuts drove last week to record highs last week and last week. While it also gained, recent weakness in tech stocks kept the index well below lifetime highs.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,702.55 on Friday, while the Dow rose 0.1% to 42,063.36. The Nasdaq fell 0.4 percent to 17,948.32.