Dow Jones Futures: Market Rally Revs Higher, Time To Step On Gas? Fed Meeting

Dow Jones futures will open on Sunday evening, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with earnings season still in full swing. But investor focus also will turn to a pivotal Federal Reserve meeting, as well as the October jobs report.

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The stock market rally had a volatile week but ultimately showed resilience and strength amid sell-offs in Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL). The Dow Jones, Russell 2000 and, ultimately, the S&P 500, cleared their 50-day lines. The Nasdaq did not, but rebounded for strong weekly gains as Apple (AAPL) soared on its quarterly results.

Earnings season remains packed with top companies reporting. Arista Networks (ANET), Albemarle (ALB), CF Industries (CF), Cheniere Energy (LNG) and Quanta Services (PWR) report this coming week. ANET stock, Albemarle, CF, Cheniere and Quanta Services are all close to potential buy points.

Here’s a bonus stock: On Semiconductor (ON), often known as Onsemi, reports before Monday’s open. ON stock is close to a trendline entry. But this EV chipmaker has shown wild stock action in the past few months.

LNG stock is on IBD Leaderboard, while ALB stock and CF Industries are on the Leaderboard watchlist. Arista Networks and CF stock are on the IBD 50 list.

The video embedded in this article highlighted a pivotal market week, while also analyzing Arista Networks, Albemarle and LNG stock.

Fed Meeting

The Federal Reserve meets on Nov. 1-2, with policymakers set to raise rates yet again. Some relatively tame inflation data and various central bank moves and signals around the world have bolstered hopes that the Fed will soon pivot to smaller rate hikes.

Markets still strongly expect that the Fed will increase rates by 75 basis points for a fourth straight meeting, though there is now a small chance of just a half-point move. But for the December meeting, the betting has shifted toward a half-point Fed rate hike.

So investors will pay close attention to the Fed policy statement at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, and especially Fed chief Jerome Powell’s news conference at 2:30 p.m., for any Fed pivot hints.

But there will still be a lot of Fed-moving economic data before the year-end Fed meeting, including two jobs reports. The October jobs report is due this coming Friday, three days after the September JOLTS survey. Signs of an easing labor market could reinforce Fed pivot hopes. But robust hiring and falling unemployment could signal further big rate hikes and a higher end point.

Dow Jones Futures Today

Dow Jones futures open at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures.

Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

Join IBD experts as they analyze actionable stocks in the stock market rally on IBD Live

Stock Market Rally

The stock market rally had some big earning-related swings and divergence during the week, but ultimately the major indexes all rose strongly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 5.7% in stock market trading, its fourth straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 index gained…