Futures higher, Fed speakers this week

Investing.com — U.S. stock futures point higher to begin the new trading week as many investors bring forward their projections for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year following softer-than-anticipated April employment data. Fed speakers in the coming days are expected to provide more clues into the outlook for borrowing costs in the U.S. Meanwhile, Walt Disney (NYSE:) and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:) make up some of the biggest corporate names set to report their latest quarterly earnings this week.

1. Futures higher

U.S. stock futures ticked higher on Monday, with traders assessing the possibility of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts later this year following the jobs report for last month.

By 03:23 ET (07:23 GMT), the contract had gained 51 points or 0.1%, had risen by 8 points or 0.2%, and had inched into the green by 22 points or 0.1%.

The major averages all advanced in the prior session after the latest U.S. employment numbers suggested that there may be some cooling in the world’s largest economy. Employers tacked on 175,000 roles in April, well below estimates, while the jobless rate accelerated marginally to 3.9% from 3.8% in March. Month-on-month wage growth was also slower than projected.

“None of this is terrible – it really isn’t a ‘bad’ report – but it is the first time we have seen every part of the report come in weaker than expected for a very, very long time,” analysts at ING said in a note to clients.

Fed officials have been waiting for indications that the labor market is beginning to loosen before rolling out cuts to borrowing costs, which now stand at a more than two-decade highs. Traders subsequently reacted to Friday’s figures by bringing forward their timeline for an initial 25 basis point reduction to September fron November.

2. Fed officials to speak

Markets will likely be keen to glean additional cues on the potential path of interest rates from speeches by several Fed policymakers this week.

On Monday, New York Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin are both set to speak, followed by Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari a day later. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Fed Governor Michelle will make appearances later this week as well.

Earlier this month, the central bank acknowledged a lack of progress on battling inflation, the key focus of a campaign of a tightening cycle that…