US pre-open: Stocks to resume Friday's push higher; Trump to outline infrastructure plans
US futures pointed to a firmer open on Wall Street on Monday, with the rally that began late last Friday set to continue.
At 1220 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were up 1.1%, while Nasdaq futures were 1% higher.
There are no major data points due, but after worries about inflation and rising interest rates prompted a selloff in equity markets last week, investors will be eyeing the release of the consumer price index for January on Wednesday. Economists expect headline inflation to rise 0.3%, while core inflation - which excludes food and energy costs - is seen edging up 0.2%
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said: "Should this metric increase further than forecast then the body of evidence supporting stronger inflationary pressures in the world’s largest economy will increase. The fear amongst some investors is that bond yields have been steadily creeping higher for some time now and in doing so they are showing signs of possibly breaking out of a downtrend that has been in place for the past three decades.
"Should yields continue to make sustained gains going forward then the recent declines in stocks may be just the beginning of a larger correction that is, by historical terms at least, becoming long overdue."
Investors will also be watching out for comments from President Trump, who is set to outline his administration's infrastructure plans.
Rabobank's senior FX strategist Jane Foley said: "Along with healthcare and tax reform, this was a key election pledge. Following on from concerns about how this could be funding, the $1.5trn proposal is expected to heavily rely on state and local governments for financing. $200bn in federal support is expected to be promised today and funded by cuts to existing programmes.
"Trump is scheduled to host both Democrat and Republican leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the way forward for the proposals. The White House plan marks only a starting point for an infrastructure overhaul. It faces a difficult path given a deeply divided Senate and congressional elections later in the year."
In corporate news, government IT business CSRA rocketed in pre-market trade after it agreed to be bought by General Dynamics for $9.6bn.
Elsewhere, shares in Ryder System could be active after it said it will lift its quarterly dividend by 13% to 52 cents a share thanks to earnings benefits from the recent changes to the US tax system.