A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Getty Images
U.S. stock futures opened slightly higher over Monday night after the Dow broke the record high Friday before the three-day Labor Day weekend.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 82 points, 0.23%. Futures S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were up 0.21% and 0.31%, respectively.
On Friday, the Dow lost 74.73 points (0.21%), while the S&P 500 fell slightly 0.03%. The high-tech Nasdaq rose 0.21%, which helped support the market as a whole.
The losses came after the August employment report fell short of expectations, highlighting continued concern over the spread of Covid and its delta variant. Non-farm payrolls rose 235,000 in August, the Department of Labor reported, but economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected 720,000 jobs.
Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, said there could be a sharp job boom “in the coming months” and that there are promising signs that the worst increase in Covid cases could be left behind. However, the August employment report has the potential to delay the Fed’s tight schedule, which is expected to begin this year, Detrick said.
“Fed Chair Powell has made it clear that the job market will serve as an indication of when to start reducing asset purchases,” he said. “With [Friday’s] great payroll failure, it is clear that the labor market is under short-term pressure, and while these pressures are likely to dissipate, the Fed is likely to err on the side of prudence to avoid acting prematurely. “
One week in September, the main averages have risen, although silence has begun during the month. So far, the Dow is up 15.5%, the S&P is up 20.7% and the Nasdaq Composite is up 19.2%, although investors and analysts are still waiting for a major correction in September.
“It is true that passive investors have not yet been in pain,” Bank of America said in a note Friday, adding that “2021 represents another year during which [S&P 500] it has crushed it, but some signs indicate it may be time to start being “more demanding” in terms of stocks. “
There are no economic data on Tuesday. Later, Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, will speak at a conference hosted by the Brookings Institute.