US stock futures edge higher with Fedspeak, labor data in focus

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures rose in evening deals on Sunday as investors awaited more cues on interest rates from a slew of Federal Reserve officials and key labor market readings this week. 

Wall Street was nursing losses from Friday, after PCE price index data- a key inflation gauge for the Fed- showed inflation remained sticky in May. Uncertainty over the 2024 Presidential elections, after a debate between President Joe Biden and rival Donald Trump, also kept sentiment on edge. 

S&P 500 Futures rose 0.2% to 5,532.50 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.2% to 19,965.0 points by 19:10 ET (23:10 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.1% to 39,512.0 points.

Fed comments, labor data in focus

Focus this week was on a slew of comments from Fed officials, chiefly Chairman Jerome Powell, who is set to speak at the European Central Bank’s annual forum in Portugal on Tuesday. 

The minutes of the Fed’s June meeting are also due on Wednesday, and are expected to offer more insight into interest rates after the bank struck a hawkish note during the meeting. 

Fed officials have largely maintained their stance that the bank will seek inflation reaching its 2% target before pursuing any interest rate cuts. 

Beyond the Fed commentary, focus this week is also on key nonfarm payrolls data for June, due on Friday. The reading is set to provide more insight into the labor market, whose resilience has also been a key point of contention for the Fed in cutting rates. 

Wall Street rangebound amid holiday trade

Wall Street indexes closed lower on Friday, and have remained largely rangebound near record highs in recent sessions. Slim trading volumes, amid the summer holidays, also made for little action.

The Independence Day holiday on Thursday is also set to shorten the trading week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 5,460.48 points, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.8% to 17,723.83 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 39,118.86 points on Friday. 

Among individual stocks, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was in focus after Reuters reported that the planemaker had agreed to buy Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPR) for $4.7 billion.