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Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Stock futures inched lower Wednesday after the U.S. House advanced the debt ceiling bill in a crucial step to avoid a U.S. default, advancing it to the Senate just days ahead of the default deadline.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31 points, or 0.09%, erasing earlier gains. S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.16%.
The market wrapped the month of May, marked by a dramatic rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Nordstrom jumped 7% in extended trading after its fiscal first-quarter sales beat Wall Street’s expectations. Salesforce shares fell about 6% after the software company bumped up its full-year forecast but reported higher capital expenses than expected.
The Nasdaq Composite ended May with a 5.8% gain as enthusiasm around AI continued to boost related stocks. Chipmaker Nvidia jumped 36% in May, briefly touching a $1 trillion market cap this week. Alphabet, Meta and Amazon all rose at least 10% during the month.
Outside of tech, gains were hard to come by, however. The S&P 500 inched up 0.3% in the month, while the blue-chip Dow fell almost 3.5%, dragged down by Nike, Walt Disney and Chevron.
“We have been impressed by the resilience of this market since the March low, absorbing a relentless onslaught of negative sentiment and headlines,” said Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler.
Beyond the debt ceiling battle, investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s June 13-14 policy meeting as another possible market catalyst. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said Wednesday that he’s leaning toward skipping a rate hike at the upcoming gathering. However, he added that Friday’s payrolls report could change his mind.
A slew of economic data is set for release Thursday, including weekly jobless claims and the purchasing managers’ index.
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