US stock index futures lower; Fed meeting eyed

Wall Street top three indexes pointed to a lower open in early trading on Monday as investors looked ahead of key economic data and a widely anticipated Fed meeting later this week.

On Friday, US equities ended mixed as the technology sector came under pressure, dragging the Nasdaq to the downside. Key components of the index, such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook or Alphabet (Google’s mother company) dropped more than 3 percent during the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up by nearly 90 points at the end of the session, with Goldman Sachs on top of advancers. The S&P 500 finished 0.1 percent lower, as information technology fell more than 2.5 percent in the day.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +89.44 / +0.42% / 21271.97
• Standard & Poor’s 500: -2.02 / -0.08% / 2431.77
• Nasdaq Composite: -113.85 / -1.80% / 6207.92

The SPDR S&P Bank ETF soared 2.9 percent on Friday following the testimony of former FBI director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Financials have been one of the most reactive sectors to the Trump-Comey scandal.

Market analysts said Comey’s remarks were not good for the Trump administration, but noticed they are not strong enough to end up in an impeachment.

With no relevant reports on the data front on Friday nor today, traders shifted their attention overseas, especially to the United Kingdom. Parliamentary elections were a (very) bad surprise for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party. The leader had called early elections as an intend to catch more seats, but the strategy backfired.

May’s party was not able to reach a majority and it was forced to coordinate political efforts with another party. While this situation is not good for the UK or its pound, it could be useful for European leaders ahead of the Brexit talks. A weaker government is easier to manipulate.

The Federal Budget balance for May is due for release at 18:00 GMT, with expectations for a $86.5 billion deficit from a prior $182.0 billion surplus.