U.S. stock futures were slightly lower during early morning trading on Tuesday after the major averages closed at records, boosted by strength in infrastructure stocks.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 10 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures traded in mildly positive territory.
During Monday regular trading all three major averages rose to new highs. The Dow gained about 104 points, or 0.29%, posting its 44th record close of the year. The S&P 500 added 0.09% and closed above 4,700 for the first time. The move pushed the broad equity index to its 64th record close of 2021. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.07% to post its 11th straight positive session, the longest daily winning streak since December 2019. The tech-heavy index registered its 44th record close of 2021.
Key inflation data will be reported this week, with the producer price index, which measures the costs of final-demand manufactured goods, reading coming on Tuesday, followed by the consumer price index on Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting producer prices to have risen 0.6% month over month in October. The consumer price index is also expected to show a 0.6% jump compared to the prior month.
Tesla shares turned higher in premarket trading, a day after falling nearly 5% when company founder Elon Musk asked Twitter users whether he should sell 10% of his stock. The stock was up 1.2% Tuesday morning.
Infrastructure-related stocks were among Monday’s biggest winners after the House passed the spending package on Friday evening. Materials was the top-performing S&P group, rising 1.23%, while the industrials sector closed at a record.
“The passing of the traditional infrastructure bill is a strong positive for the economy and for markets, as it should result in positive ROI [return on investment] for the country,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
“Infrastructure is one of those expenditures which is truly an investment — with an expected positive return on money spent — as opposed to a pure expense, with relatively little chance of getting the money back,” he added.
Strong earnings results have also supported stocks in running to new highs. Through Monday morning 445 S&P 500 components have reported quarterly results, with 81% beating earnings estimates. When it comes to revenue, 76% of companies have exceeded expectations.
The bulk of the index may have reported, but there are still some widely-watched reports on deck. D. R. Horton will report before Tuesday’s opening well, while Wynn Resorts and Coinbase will provide updates when the market closes.
“With Q3 earnings season winding down, economic data and the progress in economic re-openings will gain in importance in investors’ focus from here to the end of the year,” noted John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management.
Also on Monday, Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles, who served a dual role as banking system supervisor, announced he would be stepping down around the end of 2021. Multiple Fed officials spoke Monday, with Vice Chairman Richard Clarida expressing concern about inflation, the current pace of which is “much more than a moderate overshoot” of the Fed’s 2% goal.
In another central bank development, President Joe Biden last week interviewed Fed Governor Lael Brainard for the position of Fed chairman, Bloomberg News reported, a surprise development in that most of Wall Street expects Jerome Powell to be renominated to the position.
