By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S stock futures held steady in early APAC trade on Monday after closing at fresh record highs last week amid increasing risk appetite as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that bond tapering could start this year, while noting that there is still “much ground to cover” before raising interest rates.
Last week, The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, the S&P 500 added 1.5% and the NASDAQ Composite lifted 2.8%, while posting monthly gains of 1.5% 2.6% and 3.1% respectively.
On Friday, the closely watched Jackson hole symposium saw the Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell deliver a prepared speech, noting that the economy has reached a point where it no longer needs as much policy support and signaling that policymakers are likely to begin tapering monthly asset purchases before the end of the year, while a different and substantially more stringent test has been devised for the timing of interest rate liftoff.
Investors will turn focus to U.S. initial jobless claims due later this week for confirmation of a continued labor market recovery, while factory orders and construction spending will also be closely watched.
On the bond markets, 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yields were at 1.304%.