U.S. stock futures hovered near the flatline early Monday following a record-setting week for the S&P 500. Futures tied to the 500-stock benchmark were flat. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 30 points, or 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were also unchanged. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed above 5,000 for the first time in history. The broader index has now risen more than 5% since the start of the year. All three major averages are coming off their fifth straight week of gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite respectively adding 1.4% and 2.3% last week. The Dow edged fractionally higher. “While U.S. stocks are now pricing in plenty of good news, we believe the rally has been well-supported,” wrote Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management. The S&P 500 has now gone over 70 trading days without experiencing a 2% pullback, according to Bespoke Investment Group. Some 61 names in the S&P 500 are set to report earnings in the week ahead, including gig economy stocks Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash. Companies such as AutoNation, Kraft Heinz, Hasbro and Coca-Cola will also shed light on the state of the U.S. consumer. Traders will also watch out for the latest level on the consumer price index — or CPI, a key inflationary gauge — set to be released on Tuesday morning. More key economic data is expected on Thursday and Friday, including January’s reading on retail sales, production, imports and exports, housing starts and the producer price index, or PPI. “CPI and PPI should print in line, but still be bullish,” Infrastructure Capital Advisors’ Jay Hatfield told CNBC. “We think that the market will continue to rally for the next week or two, and then maybe stall out as we wait for this inflation data to continue to come out.” U.S. Treasury yields were slightly lower Monday as investors looked ahead to key economic data and fresh comments from Federal Reserve officials that could provide hints about the interest rate outlook. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was last down more than 2 basis points at 4.16%. The 2-year Treasury yield was nearly two basis points lower at 4.47%. Asia markets were mixed Monday to start a holiday-shortened week for most markets, while China remains shut for the week. Many major stock markets in Asia-Pacific were closed Monday including Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.4% lower at 7,614.90. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended at 36,897.42, up 0.1%. The Topix dipped 0.2% at 2,557.88. Japan’s Nikkei 225 breached the 37,000 point mark on an intra-day basis, touching 34-year highs on Friday. Oil prices fell Monday after rallying more than 6% last week on escalating Middle East tensions. The West Texas Intermediate contract for March was last down 72 cents, or 0.94%, to trade at $76.09 a barrel. The Brent contract for April was last trading at $81.37 a barrel, down 82 cents or 1%. Gold edged lower on Monday due to an uptick in the dollar, although prices were stuck in a tight range as investors looked forward to U.S. inflation data and comments from Federal Reserve officials this week. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $2,021.78 per ounce, oscillating in a $5 range. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% at $2,036.20 per ounce. The dollar index was up 0.04%, making greenback-priced bullion less appealing for other currency holders.
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