Stock futures rise slightly ahead of first day of June

Stock futures moved slightly higher on Tuesday evening as Wall Street turned the page to another month.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 197 points, or 0.6%. Those for the S&P 500 ticked up about 0.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures gained roughly 0.5%.

The move in futures came after a down day for stocks, with the Dow falling 222.8 points, or 0.7% in a choppy trading session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

For the month of May, the Dow and S&P 500 finished little changed, after last week’s strong rally chipped away at long losing streaks for the indexes. The Nasdaq Composite underperformed, shedding more than 2%.

With the first-quarter earnings season nearly complete and the Federal Reserve having strongly signaled its rate hike intentions for its next two meetings, stocks could struggle for direction over the summer.

“It’s best to wait and see how the next quarter shakes out. When we get into late July, we’ll have a better picture. Until then, I think we’re going to see very much a choppy market with a bias towards falling further into a bear market,” said Max Gokhman, chief investment officer at AlphaTrAI.

One potential source of optimism for markets overnight is Salesforce, whose first-quarter results topped expectations. The stock rose more than 9% in extended trading.

On Wednesday, investors will get an updated look at manufacturing and construction spending data. The first day of June also marks the start of the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet, which ballooned to nearly $9 trillion during the Covid pandemic.