Check back for updates throughout the trading dayU.S. equity futures nudged higher Tuesday, following on from another record high close for the S&P 500, as investors looked to a busy slate of data and Federal Reserve speakers heading into the mid-week Juneteenth holiday.The S&P 500 notched its thirtieth record high close of the year last night, rising 41.6 points on the session to take the benchmark’s year-to-date gain to around 14.75%, powered once again by outsized gains in the tech sector.The Nasdaq also closed at a fresh record peak, and has gained nearly 19% so far this year, as investors continue to drive tech stocks higher on hopes that an AI technology wave will translate into robust profit growth both in the tech sector itself and beyond.Related: Analysts revisit S&P 500 price targets after record runFocus in today’s session, however, is likely to fall on the health of the broader economy and the chances that slowing inflation will prompt the Federal Reserve into an autumn rate cut.The Commerce Department will publish its official estimate of May retail sales at 8:30 am Easter time, with economists looking for a month-on-month gain of around 0.3%, with industrial production data following at 9:15 am EDT.
The S&P 500 notched its 30th record high close of the year last night, taking its 2024 gain to 14.75%.
A cohort of six Fed officials will also be making public statements today as investors attempt to find clues as to when, or indeed if, the Fed will begin the process of reducing its benchmark lending rate, which sits at a twenty-two year high of between 5.25% and 5.5%.The CME Group’s FedWatch tool pegs the odds of a September rate cut at around 61%, with similar odds for a follow-on reduction in December.In the bond market, benchmark 10-year note yields were trading at 4.292% heading into the start of the New York session and ahead of a $16 billion auction of 20-year bonds later in the session, while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.774%.The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.16% higher at 105.493.Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a modest 8 point opening bell gain, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are indicating a 33 point advance.The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 67 points higher, thanks in part to premarket gains for index heavyweights Nvidia (NVDA) , Tesla (TSLA)  and Apple (AAPL) .More Wall Street Analysts:Analyst revamps Microsoft stock price target despite controversyAnalysts reset Nio stock price targets after earningsDollar Tree’s new price strategy prompts analysts to revise targetsIn overseas markets, European stocks rebounded from a six-week low to rise 0.51% in early Frankfurt trading, helped by solid gains for the banking sector, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.41% in London.Overnight in Asia, the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35%, the highest in twelve years, while the Bank of Japan signaled the chances of a July rate hike, only the second move higher in seventeen years.The Nikkei 225 was marked 1% by the close of trading in Tokyo, while the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index added 0.63%. Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024