9.58am: Tech giants lead surge, Dow held back
Wall Street has got off to a mixed start, with the Dow Jones retreating from the high at which it ended last week, but the broader S&P 500 rising 0.6% and the tech-fueled Nasdaq jumping 0.9%.
The small-cap Russell 2000 is up 0.3%.
Eight of the top 10 in the S&P 500 are in the green, with Nvidia a big driver for the main indices, rising 2.3%.
Holding the Dow back are falls for Caterpillar (down 3.6%), Boeing (down 2.7%), Amgen (down 1.7%) and Nike (down 1.2%).
8.20am: Small retreat expected
US stocks are set to beat a small retreat at the start of the week, following on from mixed markets in Europe and Asia.
Futures for the S&P 500 are pointing to a 0.1% fall at the open, while Nasdaq 100 futures are down 0.15% and Dow Jones futures are just below flat.
Many of the biggest of the big tech stocks seem to be expected to start higher, with premarket trading indicating Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta Platforms all in the green.
This follows a positive close on Friday, where the Dow and S&P 500 made fresh record highs, at the end of a positive week with all the major indices posting gains of around 1%, and the Dow recording its fifth successive week of advances.
"Overall, the stock market is displaying significant resilience," says market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.
"This is often a difficult time of year for equities, yet investors continue to increase their exposure. At the same time, volatility is on the rise with the front-month VIX back above 20, indicating that investors are also adding hedges in the form of S&P put options."
Bond yields are also holding at higher levels, he notes, with the yield on the key 10-year Treasury note hovering around 4.10%, well above the 3.60% from this time last month.
The third quarter earnings season has mostly got off to a good start, with positive reports from JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, the Bank of New York Mellon and Domino’s Pizza, whth only Delta Air Lines disappointing.
This week’s big earnings updates include Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), United Health and Netflix.
There are no reports due out today and the US bond market is closed for Columbus Day.