US pre-open: Futures fall as investors brace for central bank decisions
US stock futures were pointing to small declines across Wall Street on Monday ahead of a busy week for economic data and central bank policy decisions.
By 0707 in New York, Dow Jones futures were pointing to a 0.3% fall, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were slipping 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
“Investors will be watching the US market open closely after a bruising week on Wall Street – futures prices early on Monday pointed to further losses. Later this week the focus will switch to central banks and whether they may feel compelled to respond to signs of economic weakness on both sides of the Atlantic," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
At 0830 ET, retail sales data for February will be released by the US Census Bureau, and is expected to show a 0.7% rebound in sales after a 0.9% decline in January, which was the biggest monthly decline since March 2023. If consensus forecasts are met, this would represent the strongest rate of growth in seven months.
The Empire State manufacturing index is also due for release at 0830 ET and is tipped to fall to -1.9 for March, down from +5.7 in February.
Later in the week, markets will be looking out for central bank meetings at the Bank of England, Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank and the Federal Reserve.
Fed policymakers, which conclude their meeting on Wednesday, are expected to maintain interest rates for the second straight meeting, with further rate moves likely to be delayed until the summer amid significant economic volatility.
"With traders increasingly speculating that Trump could be engineering a recession in a bit to drive down boring costs, all eyes will be on Jeremy Powell as he lays out the Fed’s stance in the face of potential economic weakness," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.