U.S. stock futures rose early Monday as the market looked to recover after the S&P 500 had its worst day of the year Friday.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 0.4% and futures on the Nasdaq 100 were 0.2% higher. The S&P 500 and the Dow both fell 1.7% Friday–the worst day of 2025 for both indexes as soft economic data sent jitters through stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.2%.
Walmart’s disappointing outlook Thursday had laid the groundwork for concerns about the strength of the U.S. consumer before data added to those worries Friday. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dropped to 64.7 in February, down sharply from December’s reading of 74.
But investors were in a slightly better mood at the start of what could be a big week for the stock market.
In terms of what could move markets for most, it’s likely to be a battle between Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday and the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric due to be released Friday.
The AI chip maker slumped along with the broader selloff Friday and is still around 5% off where it was trading before the emergence of Chinese artificial-intelligence start-up DeepSeek. As always with Nvidia, the bar is high for earnings and outlook and investors will be looking for a convincing beat on both metrics.
The core PCE price index is what the Fed uses to most accurately determine the U.S. inflation picture. January’s print will be closely followed, particularly after consumer prices jumped 3% in January, above expectations. Economists expect core PCE to rise 2.6% year-over-year, according to FactSet data, down from 2.8% the previous month.
Of course, something else could come along and have an even greater impact on the market. Investors will also be closely watching for any more updates on President Donald Trump’s trade policy.
