Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
(NYSE)
on
March
20,
2024
in
New
York
City.
Spencer
Platt
|
Getty
Images
Stock
futures
were
slightly
lower
Sunday
evening
ahead
of
March’s
last—and
shortened—trading
week.
Futures
tied
to
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
edged
lower
by
37
points,
or
0.1%.
S&P
futures
and
Nasdaq
100
futures
lost
nearly
0.1%.
The
market
is
on
track
for
its
fifth
consecutive
month
of
gains,
with
the
major
U.S.
stock
benchmarks
crossing
new
all-time
closing
high
levels
last
week.
The
S&P
500
added
roughly
2.3%
last
week,
while
the
Dow
gained
just
under
2% for
its best
week
since
December,
nearing
the
40,000
level.
The
Nasdaq
Composite,
meanwhile,
jumped
about
2.9%
during
the
period.
These
gains
were
fueled
by
the
Federal
Reserve’s
latest
remarks
that
maintained
central
bankers’
rate-cutting
timeline
for
this
year,
as
well
as
investors’
ongoing
enthusiasm
for
tech
stocks
amid
the
AI-powered
rally. Overall
investor
sentiment
remains
above
its
historical
average,
according
to
the
latest
weekly
American
Association
of
Individual
Investors
Sentiment
Survey,
reflecting
persistent
market
optimism.
Still,
some
investors
fear
the
potential
impact
of
an
overextended
rally
and
higher-for-longer
interest
rates.
“Examining
Fed
rate
cycles
since
the
1970s
has
revealed
that,
generally
speaking,
investors
have
more
to
fear
from
the
first
rate
cut
in
a
cycle
than
the
pause,
the
period
in
which
the
central
bank
stops
tightening
and
has
yet
to
ease,”
Strategas
Securities
analyst
Ryan
Grabinksi
wrote
in
a
Friday
note.
This
week,
investors
will
gain
further
insight
about
the
path
of
inflation
from
the
February
personal
consumption
expenditures
price
index,
the
Fed’s
preferred
inflation
gauge,
released
Friday
morning.
The
market’s
reaction
will
be
determined
on
the
following
Monday
given
the
Good
Friday
holiday.
