Dow Futures Rise 90 Pts; Auto Sector in Focus

U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Monday, starting the Thanksgiving week on a positive note ahead of the release of the minutes from the last Federal Reserve Meeting and a deluge of important economic data.

At 7 AM ET (1200 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 90 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 15 points, or 0.3%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures outperformed, climbing 70 points, or 0.4%.

Thanksgiving week traditionally marks the start of the key holiday shopping period, and has tended to correlate with gains for the U.S. equity markets. This could well continue to be the case this year after last week’s unexpectedly strong 1.7% jump in retail sales in October.

Ahead of Thursday’s holiday, there are a number of important economic data releases due this week, the highlight will be the figures on personal income and spending, which includes the core PCE price index, widely seen as the Fed’s favored inflation gauge.

The economic calendar also features revised data on third-quarter GDP, initial jobless claims, durable goods orders, new and existing home sales, consumer sentiment and the November PMI release.

Additionally, the Fed is scheduled to publish the minutes of its November meeting, the gathering that resulted in the start of the scaling back of its pandemic-era asset purchase program.

President Joe Biden is also set to announce this week who he wants to chair the Fed for the next four years, the choice being between incumbent Jerome Powell and current Fed governor Lael Brainard.

Turning to the corporate sector, Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) stock will be in focus after the company and auto giant Ford (NYSE:F) called off their plan to jointly develop an electric vehicle late on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Elon Musk of rival Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) said in a tweet on Monday that its Model S Plaid will “probably” be coming to the important China market around March. That offset the negative vibe from the software glitch that kept many Tesla owners locked out of their cars on Friday night.

Crude prices edged lower Monday, continuing the sharp selloff at the end of last week.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signalled on Saturday he was ready to help combat soaring oil prices by exploring a way to release oil from the country’s strategic reserves, joining a group of top consumers following a request from the United States late last week.

The demand outlook meanwhile is under pressure from the soaring number of Covid cases in Europe which has prompted a fresh round of restrictions on economic and social activity.

By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% lower at $75.69 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.3% to $78.66. Both benchmarks hit their lowest levels since the start of October earlier in the session, having fallen around 3% on Friday.

Additionally, gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,842.00/oz, while EUR/USD traded just lower at 1.1285.