By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were lower in early APAC deals on Monday, following a volatile week of trade as market participants fretted about rising inflation, continued supply chain issues and the upcoming rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Last week, the Dow was up 1.3%, the S&P 500 added 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite finished flat, down 7%, 4.4% and 12% respectively for the month.
Dow Jones Futures were down 0.23%, S&P 500 Futures dipped 0.27% and Nasdaq 100 Futures lost 0.36%.
Among stocks, technology companies staged a comeback on Friday, as Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) added 4.49%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 3.11%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 2.81%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) lifted 2.4% and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) gained 4.08%. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 6.98% after reporting record revenues and profits beating forecasts, noting that supply constraints are expected to ease in the March quarter.
EV makers Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) added 2.08% and 5.9% respectively while Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) dipped 5.4%.
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) popped 10.6% after reporting better than expected forecasts for profit and sales.
On the data front, the personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 5.8% from one year ago in December, posting the largest annual increase since July 1982 amid sharply rising prices for goods and services.
In policy news, the U.S. Federal Reserve last week indicated that it is likely to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years in order to combat historically high inflation. Policymakers are worried about inflation pressures they had previously characterized as “transitory,” with rising prices proving to be stronger and longer lasting than officials anticipated, exacerbated by continued supply chain bottlenecks and stronger consumer demand.
Markets are now pricing in five quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes in 2022.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 1.773%.
Earnings season continues this week with major reports from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Meta Platforms and Amazon.