Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an early slump to end last Friday's trading little changed, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they await the release of U.S. economic data that was delayed due to the recently ended government shutdown.

The Commerce Department is due to kick off the release its delayed data this morning with the release of a report on construction spending in August.

Reports on factory orders and the U.S. trade deficit in August are also due to be released in the coming days along with the monthly jobs report for September.

While the reports will be more backward looking than traders would prefer, the data could still impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting in December.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 57.4 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged next month and a 42.6 percent chance of another quarter point rate cut.

AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) is also likely to be in focus ahead of the release of its third quarter financial results after the close of trading on Wednesday.

The strength of Nvidia's results and its guidance could have a significant impact on the markets amid recent concerns about AI valuations.

Following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, stocks saw further downside in early trading on Friday but showed a significant recovery attempt as the day progressed.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed well off their lows and into positive territory before eventually ending the day roughly flat.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 30.23 points or 0.1 percent 22,900.59, while the S&P 500 edged down 3.38 points or 0.1 percent to 6,734.11.

The narrower Dow, on the other hand, pulled back further off the record closing high set on Wednesday, sliding 309.74 points or 0.7 percent to 47,147.48.

After seeing considerable volatility over the past few days, the major averages turned in a mixed performance for the week. The Nasdaq fell by 0.5 percent, while the S&P 500 crept up by 0.1 and the Dow rose by 0.3 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.5 percent, while South Korea's Kospi shot up by 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.27 to $60.36 a barrel after surging $1.40 to $60.09 barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after plunging $100.30 to $4,094.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $14.30 to $4,079.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.87 yen versus the 154.54 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1592 compared to last Friday's $1.1620.