Stock futures remain flat after closing S&P 500 records

U.S. stock index futures changed little during trading overnight on Tuesday, after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record highs during regular trading.

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones industrial average gained 18 points. The future S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were modestly higher.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.15% on Tuesday for its fourth consecutive positive session, reaching an intraday record and closing the high. It is the 62nd intraday record of the benchmark index this year. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.52%, also reaching intraday and closing records.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.09%, although the 30-share benchmark did not reach a new milestone, with Home Depot as the main drag.

The S&P may have hit a record, but Christopher Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, sees more gains on the horizon. On Tuesday it raised its target at the end of the year to 4,825, which is 7.5% above the place where the index ended the day. Harvey’s call is based on the strength of S&P from August to the last months of the year.

“Over the past 31 years, there have been nine cases in which the S&P 500 had a 10% + return in the first eight months of the year; over the next four months, the index averaged + 8.4% .None of these cases produced a negative return during the last four months, “he wrote in a note to clients.

The long-awaited Jackson Hole symposium kicks off Thursday, where central bankers will possibly provide updates on their reduced monetary stimulus plan. The Federal Reserve has been buying at least $ 120 billion worth of bonds a month to curb long-term interest rates and boost economic growth as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.

President Jerome Powell will have to make statements on Friday.

“The concern is reduced talk, but if inflation remains hot and economic data remains mixed, it could push the momentum to slow down,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest. “The Fed is unlikely to force it to shrink its unprepared economy, and the outlook is less and less certain with the increase in the Delta variant.”

Bell added that the deciding factor could be the August jobs report, as Covid cases have jumped in the last month as the delta variant spreads.

Several technology companies will report their profits on Wednesday after the market closes, including those of Dow component Salesforce. Box and Snowflake are also on deck.