US Stocks On Edge As Investors Gear Up For Nvidia, Retail Earnings: Analyst Updates S&P 500 Target For 2025, Says Market Is 'Expensive'

U.S. stocks could get off to a tentative start on Monday after investors switched to a risk-on mode last week as the post-election rally lost some of its steam.

Economic data and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's comments about the future of rate cuts put the sentiment on a dampener. Powell said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is not in a hurry after economic data showed strength.

Expectations of a further 25 basis point rate cut in December have fallen to just 62% now, down from 72% last week, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

In premarket trading on Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was up 0.13% to $586.50 and the Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.45% to $498.78, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Week:

All three major indices registered a decline last week, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq seeing a bigger fall. This was the week prior, Dow Jones and S&P 500 registered their best week of the year after the election of Trump as the 47th U.S. president.

On the economic data front, U.S. export prices increased by 0.8% in October, while import prices rose by 0.3% month-over-month in October. U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% month-over-month in October compared to a revised 0.8% increase in September, topping market estimates of 0.3%

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with information technology, communication services, and healthcare stocks recording the biggest losses on Friday.

However, utilities and financials stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.

Insights From Analysts:

Wells Fargo's Jay Bryson thinks the recent surge in inflation could needle the Fed to reevaluate its pace of rate cuts.

"Slower progress on inflation in recent months may prompt the Fed to reevaluate its pace of easing moving forward," he said.

On the ...

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