U.S. stock futures swung on Monday as investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s next policy move and looked forward to a series of retail gains this week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.2%. Those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) gained 0.1% after the benchmark index posted its third consecutive weekly gain. Nasdaq-100 contracts (NQ=F) rose 0.5% after a relatively quiet week on Wall Street. Investor attention is focused this week on retail earnings and oil prices, with fewer market-moving economic data releases on the calendar. Big box stores including Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Lowe’s (LOW) and Home Depot (HD) report quarterly results this week, providing insight into consumer health during the important back-to-school shopping season. Meanwhile, traders cut the odds of a September rate hike at the Fed meeting in Jackson Hole to less than a third as inflation and employment data have created a mixed economic picture. Oil prices remain a key factor for markets and the Federal Reserve as the United States takes an economic approach to the war in the Middle East. Brent crude futures (BZ=F), the international benchmark, rose to $89 a barrel on Monday. At the same time, financial markets have tightened, with 10-year (^TNX) and 30-year (^TYX) Treasury bond yields rising 5 basis points at Friday’s close. The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, released Wednesday, could offer more clues about the thinking of Federal Reserve officials.
