Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures diverge as focus turns to JOLTS data, Nike earnings – Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ), SPDR S&P 500 (ARCA:SPY)

Stocks are bracing for another nervous start on Tuesday after they managed to pull through in the previous session to end a seasonally weak September at highs. Some strategists point to September's unusual gains as a testament to the market's resilience. The unequivocal belief is that gains could continue into the fourth quarter and beyond only if the economy can avoid a recession.

Every incoming economic data, including job openings and manufacturing activity data due out Tuesday, would offer evidence about the economy's strength or lack thereof. With this being a presidential election year, traders are bracing for increased volatility until at least November 5. The market may also have to deal with earnings as they begin to be released in the second half of the month.

Futures	Performance (+/-)
Nasdaq 100	+0.07%
S&P 500	-0.09%
Dow	-0.27%
R2K	-0.23%

In premarket trading on Tuesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.02% to $573.63 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ rose 0.09% to $488.50, according to Benzinga Pro Data.

Signs from last week:

US stocks survived a bout of selling pressure and closed Monday's session higher. Overbought levels and a decline in some major global markets introduced caution from the start of the session, with major indices mostly moving below the flat line for much of the session. Selling intensified after the Federal Reserve chairman. Jerome Powell During his speech, he poured cold water on hopes for a quick downward adjustment in rates.

Major indices staged a late recovery to end September firmly in the green, with the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials closing at new highs. Nine of the S&P 500's 11 sector classes closed in the green, with communication services, energy and real estate stocks seeing strong buying interest. On the other hand, materials and discretionary consumer values ​​fell.

Index	Days Performance (+/)	Worth	September Performance	Third quarter performance
Nasdaq Composite	+0.38%	18,189.17	+2.69%	+2.58%
S&P 500 Index	+0.42%	5,762.48	+2.02%	+5.53%
Dow Industrials	+0.04%	42,330.15	+1.85%	+8.21%
Russel 2000	+0.24%	2,229.97	+0.56%	+8.90%

Analyst Perspectives:

The Fed's bigger-than-expected rate cut may buy more time for high-quality stocks to remain expensive and even help lower-quality cyclical stocks, especially after China's recent actions, the study said. US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley. Mike Wilson. “However, I believe that jobs data and other growth indicators must improve to justify these conditions continuing through the end of the year and beyond, i.e. a soft landing with growth reaccelerating, inflation stabilizing above 2% and the Federal Reserve continuing to cut rates.” said the strategist.

The market is entering a seasonally strong period after being up for eight of the nine months. Head of Research at Fund Strat Tom Lee said in the company's weekly commentary that the following three stock-friendly structural factors support “buy the dip”:

• The Federal Reserve launches an easing + “non-landing” cycle
• Bazooka of the People's Bank of China
• Post-election dynamics and cash on the sidelines

He noted that when the Federal Reserve cuts rates and the U.S. economy is not in recession, the S&P 500 index has risen seven out of seven times, three and six months later.

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Upcoming economic data:

• S&P Global will release the final September Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index at 9:45 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, expect the final manufacturing PMI to reach 47, up from 47.9 in August.
• The Institute for Supply Management will release its national manufacturing PMI at 10 a.m. EDT, and the consensus calls for a reading of 47.5 for September, up slightly from 47.2 in August.
• The Department of Labor is scheduled to release the results of its August Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at 10 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, estimate that job openings will remain unchanged from the July level, at 7.7 million.
• The Commerce Department's construction spending report for August, due out at 10 a.m. EDT, will likely show flat spending relative to July, which saw a 0.3% month-over-month drop.
• Governor of the Federal Reserve Lisa Cook will make a public appearance at 11:10 a.m. EDT.
• President of the Richmond Federal Reserve Tom Barkin President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Rafael Bostic and the president of the Boston Federal Reserve Susan Collins are scheduled to participate in a joint panel discussion on technology-driven disruption at 6:15 p.m. EDT.

Actions in focus:

• Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. DJT rose nearly 7.50% in pre-market trading after the company said has expanded its broadcast TV delivery network to multi-site operations.
• Ford Motor Co. F rose more than 2% thanks to positive action from analysts.
• Acuidad Brands, Inc. DO, McCormick & Company, Inc. MKC, Paychex, Inc. PAYX and United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI are among the prominent companies that must report their quarterly results before the market opens.
• Those reporting after closing are Nike, Inc. OF, Resource Connection, Inc. RGP and Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. CALM.

Commodities, bonds and global equity markets:

Crude oil futures retreated sharply, while gold futures advanced moderately. bitcoin BTC/USD traded slightly higher below the $64K level. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond fell 5.7 basis points to 3.745%.

In Asia, the Japanese market recovered, although confidence remained muted elsewhere. Markets in China, Hong Kong and South Korea remained closed for holidays. European stocks were hesitant in early trading as traders digested preliminary September consumer price inflation data for the eurozone.

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