Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After ending last Friday's trading mostly higher but still posting notable losses for the week, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by just 0.1 percent.

The futures had been pointing to initial weakness on Wall Street but regained ground after a report from CNBC regarding the Treasury Department's recently announced plans to upscale buyback operations for longer-term debt.

Citing two senior Treasury officials, CNBC said the Treasury could use its nearly $1 trillion General Account to help fund its plans to double the size of buybacks.

Treasury yields have moved to the downside in reaction to the report, with the ten-year yield slumping after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions amid concerns about U.S. government debt.

However, traders may be reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of key events later this week, including Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly earnings and the Jackson Hole economic symposium.

"[Fed Chair Kevin] Warsh is scheduled to deliver keynote remarks on Friday, and markets will be looking for greater clarity on both his assessment of inflation and the broader "regime change" he has advocated at the Fed," said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.

She added, "He has been reluctant to provide conventional forward guidance, meaning the speech may focus more heavily on the Fed's reaction function and longer-term philosophy than explicitly signaling what policymakers will do in September."

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation on Wednesday.

Following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Friday. The major averages all moved notably higher on the day, with the Dow showing a notable advance.

The major averages all ended the day in positive territory. The Dow jumped 517.80 points or 1 percent to 53,277.01, the Nasdaq climbed 113.29 points or 0.4 percent to 26,180.45 and the S&P 500 rose 33.21 points or 0.4 percent at 7,674.37.

Despite the rebound on the day, the major averages all closed notably lower for the week. The Nasdaq plunged by 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled by1.4 percent and the Dow slumped by 0.9 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong's hang Seng Index slumped by 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, European stocks are little changed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index is just above the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.63 to $85.42 a barrel after rising $0.23 to $87.06 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after soaring $109.20 to $4,680.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $38.80 to $4,719.40 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.90 yen versus the 158.93 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1671 compared to last Friday's $1.1679.