Traders
work
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange.
NYSE
Stock
futures
rose
slightly
on
Sunday
evening
as
Wall
Street
prepared
for
the
start
of
the
second
quarter.
Futures
tied
to
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
added
110
points,
or
0.3%,
while
S&P
500
futures
and
Nasdaq-100
futures
gained
0.3%
and
0.5%,
respectively.
The
personal
consumption
expenditures
price
index,
released
Friday
during
the
market
closure
for
Good
Friday,
showed
inflation
rose
2.8%
in
February,
which
is
in
line
with
expectations.
The
inflation
gauge
closely
watched
by
the
Federal
Reserve
also
rose
0.3%
from
a
month
ago,
the
Commerce
Department
said.
“This
showcases
progress
on
inflation
is
slow-moving
and
provides
one
more
bullet
in
the
bandolier
of
those
who
are
calling
the
bluff
on
the
Fed’s
next
rate
cut,”
said
Giuseppe
Sette, Toggle
AI’s
co-founder
and
president.
“As
a
reminder,
the
Fed
keeps
rates
consistently
higher
than
inflation,
except
when
they
foresee
a
slowdown.”
In
other
news,
the
major
averages
are
coming
off
a
winning
first
quarter.
The
S&P
500
jumped
10.2%
for
its
best
quarterly
stretch
since
2019,
while
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
added
5.6%
for
its
best
quarter
since
2021.
The
Nasdaq
Composite
popped
9.1%.
Markets
also
wrapped
up
a
winning
March
and
their
fifth
consecutive
positive
month,
with
the
S&P
and
Dow
rising
3.1%
and
2.1%,
respectively.
The
Nasdaq
edged
up
1.8%
for
the
month.
Ongoing
bets
on
artificial
intelligence
stocks
and
tailwinds
from
Nvidia
have
continued
powering
the
market
higher
in
the
new
year
after
a
strong
2023.
That
comes
alongside
the
expectation
for
the
start
of
a
rate-cutting
cycle
from
the
Federal
Reserve
later
this
year,
with
markets
pricing
in
a
cut
as
soon
as
June.
According
to
Ryan
Detrick,
chief
market
strategist
at
Carson
Group,
this
rally
could
be
poised
to
continue.
He
noted
that
the
S&P
finished
the
year
higher
than
10
out
of
the
11
previous
times
it
notched
a
gain
of
10%
or
more
in
the
first
quarter.
Wall
Street
is
readying
for
a
busy
week
of
economic
data
that
kicks
of
Monday,
with
construction
spending
for
February
and
ISM
manufacturing
data
for
March
due
Monday.
The
keynote
March
jobs
report
is
on
deck
for
Friday.
