Stock futures dip after S&P 500 wraps up worst month since March 2020

Stock futures declined in in a single day buying and selling Monday after Wall Street wrapped up a tumultuous month with steep losses as traders grappled with the Federal Reserve’s coverage shift.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 80 factors. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each traded 0.3% decrease.

While shares pulled off a tech-driven rally Monday, main averages nonetheless suffered a brutal month marked by wild worth swings. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted their worst months since March 2020 on the depth of the pandemic, down 5.3% and eight.9%, respectively. It was additionally the S&P 500’s largest January decline since 2009. The blue-chip Dow declined 3.3% for the month.

January’s sell-off got here because the central financial institution signaled its readiness to tighten financial coverage, together with elevating rates of interest a number of instances this yr, to tame inflation that has shot up to the very best degree in almost 4 a long time. Investors flocked out of growth-oriented expertise shares, that are notably delicate to rising charges.

Volatility exploded throughout the month as traders deciphered the Fed’s messaging on its coverage pivot. At one level final week, the S&P 500 dipped into correction territory on an intraday foundation, briefly down 10% from its report excessive. The latest comeback pushed the large-cap benchmark 6.3% beneath its peak. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq continues to be in a correction, final down 12% from its all-time excessive.

Still, many Wall Street strategists are reminding traders that corrections are regular in bull markets. Since 1950, there have been 33 S&P 500 corrections of 10% or extra since 1950, and the median episode has lasted about 5 months, based on Goldman Sachs.

“The newest decline is a standard market correction that doesn’t sign a recession or the tip of this bull market,” stated Chris Haverland, world fairness strategist at Wells Fargo. “We proceed to consider that financial development and company earnings will probably be stable this yr, and that the Fed is not going to be overly aggressive in dialing again financial coverage.”

This week a flurry of key corporations are anticipated to report earnings, which may set the tone for the month of February. Exxon Mobil is slated to submit numbers earlier than the bell on Tuesday, whereas Alphabet, General Motors, Starbucks, AMD and PayPal will report after the bell.

So far, of the 172 corporations within the S&P 500 which have reported earnings thus far, 78.5% topped analysts’ estimates, based on Refinitiv.

“We nonetheless anticipate stable, albeit extra modest, features for markets this yr, alongside extra regular pullbacks, particularly given the transition in financial coverage,” Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist, stated in a notice.