A woman rides past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 13, 2020 at Wall Street in New York City.
Johannes Eisele | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures ticked slightly higher on Tuesday evening following a strong start to September for the market.
Futures for the Nasdaq 100 rose by about 0.5%, while futures for the Dow and S&P 500 climbed about 0.3%. Major tech stocks such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft posted slight gains in extended trading as well.
The major U.S. indexes all rose during Tuesday’s regular session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite closing at record highs. The S&P 500 rose 0.75%, which was its best first trading day of September since 2010, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Tuesday’s rally came after a banner month for the markets, with the Dow and S&P 500 both rising at least 7% to notch their best August in more than 30 years. The Nasdaq outperformed both of them, gaining 9.59% for the month.
Morgan Stanley Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Mike Wilson said on “Closing Bell” that he was still optimistic about the market long-term but that weakness in the weeks ahead was on the table after such a strong rally.
“I remain very constructive over the next 12 months,” Mike Wilson said. “I think we’re a little bit over cooked … It’s impossible to try to time these types of corrections,” Wilson said. “It would not surprise me if we got a 10% correction, but it wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t, either. We’re in a bull market.”
In Washington, Congressional leaders appear to be far apart in negotiations for another relief package, but the Trump Administration announced on Tuesday evening that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would invoke its authority to halt evictions through the end of the year.
The move in futures also followed conflicting news in the fight against the coronavirus, with Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche announcing that it would launch a new rapid antigen test in Europe by the end of the month. The company said it would apply for an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
However, an expert panel convened by the U.S. National Institute of Health said that a plasma treatment touted by President Trump and FDA head Stephen Hahn does not appear to be effective against Covid-19 based on current research.
New data on auto sales pointed to a continued economic recovery, with Autodata saying the pace of sales for August coming in at just over 15 million. The reading was down 11% year-over-year but was the highest rate since February.
Investors will be watching the ADP payroll data on Wednesday morning, one of the last reads on the labor market before the official August jobs report is released on Friday.
