On Monday, U.S. stocks were expected to start the day higher as Treasury yields declined amid expectations for a more dovish Federal Reserve and as investors prepared for a busy week of earnings led by Big Tech firms.
The three major indexes on Wall Street rose on Friday after a report suggested that the U.S. central bank would probably discuss a lesser interest rate increase in December, raising hopes that it might be about to tone down its extreme hawkish position on combating growing inflation.
U.S. Treasury yields slipped following the report. The 10-year yield was last seen at 4.17% after hitting a 15-year high at 4.34% on Friday.
The indexes notched their biggest weekly percentage gains in four months on Friday, also supported by better-than-expected earnings reports.
The earnings reports from the four biggest U.S. companies by market capitalization could test a nascent rally on Wall Street as stocks claw their way back from the latest lows.
“I think the bar for success for mega cap companies is relatively low. Therefore, the reaction function to the actual earnings will likely be positive,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in New York.
According to Refinitiv IBES estimates, 74.7% of the 99 S&P 500 businesses that have reported third-quarter earnings as of Friday outperformed analysts’ forecasts. 66.2% is the long-term average.
The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) has increased by almost 5% since its year-end closing low on October 12. Despite the current recovery, the index has down 21% this year, on pace to have its largest decrease since 2008.
Amid growing concerns that development may be sacrificed for ideology-driven policies, U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Baidu Inc dropped over 12% each in premarket trade under President Xi Jinping’s new leadership team.