Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
NYSE
Stock futures are little changed Tuesday night after U.S. stocks kicked off the new trading week with fresh records.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points, or 0.03%. S&P futures ticked up 0.06%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.04%.
Stocks rose to new heights on Monday, fueled by enthusiasm about a potential acceleration in mergers and acquisitions activity and an upcoming Federal Reserve rate cut. The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record for the 32nd time this year, up for 7 straight days, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched its 31st all-time high of 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day lower, however. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks, meanwhile, finished the previous session at a record high after crossing 2,500 for the first time.
Non-fiat assets also surged. Gold soared to an all-time high above $3,900 per ounce on Monday on optimism of an upcoming interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Bitcoin hit an all-time high above $125,000.
“There is certainly concentration risk, and if you have a little bit of money that moves out of these large-cap names, a little bit of outflow and inflows into small caps can go a long way. So I like the idea of hedging some of your risk with small caps,” Truist Wealth co-CIO Keith Lerner said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “We still think this is an AI-dominant bull market and we think that trend will continue even if there are hiccups along the way.”
The record-breaking market comes as investors appear to brush off concerns tied to the current U.S. government shutdown that is now on its second week. The shutdown has delayed the release of key economic data, such as the September jobs report that was expected Friday, and therefore lessened the amount of information available for the Fed ahead of its next interest rate decision. A longer shutdown coupled with this data blackout comes at a time when risks to the labor market and inflation remain top-of-mind.
This could put more investor attention on the Fed minutes due Wednesday afternoon as well as commentary expected this week from several Fed officials, including Vice Chair Michelle Bowman, Governor Stephen Miran and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari.
Corporate earnings reports also are starting to trickle out with a look at PepsiCo and Delta Air Lines results on Thursday.
Stocks have raced ahead in recent weeks, spurred by a flurry of artificial intelligence deals. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are coming off their fourth weekly gain in five weeks, while the 30-stock Dow last week advanced for the third time in four weeks. To be sure, prominent investors are increasingly calling attention to market froth and concerns of an AI bubble reminiscent of the dot-com frenzy in 1999.
