Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions, 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 less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent volatility.

Stocks have seen some wild swings over the past few weeks amid an increased focus on a recent surge in treasury yields.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which recently spiked to multi-decade highs, is little changed on the day ahead of the release of some key U.S. economic data.

Not long after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of September.

The services PMI is expected to edge down to 55.0 in September after rising to 55.4 in August, although a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.

"Another strong activity reading could revive the "good news is bad news" dynamic and push yields higher again, while evidence of moderation would reinforce the case for the Fed to wait," said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.

Traders may also be looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

The minutes may shed additional light on the outlook for interest ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Following last Friday's weaker-than-expected job data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 80.6 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged.

Stocks gave back some ground after an early surge but continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading session on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside, adding to the modest gains posted during Thursday's session.

The major averages ended the day well off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 319.27 points or 1.2 percent to 27,190.86, the S&P 500 advanced 56.27 points or 0.7 percent to 7,722.72 and the Dow climbed 250.40 points or 0.5 percent to 51,176.96.

For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq rose by 0.5 percent, the S&P 500 fell by 0.3 percent and the Dow slumped by 1.3 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, with markets in mainland China and South Korea closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $0.88 to $90.23 a barrel after tumbling $1.76 to $91.11 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after falling $40 to $4,162.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $30.70 to $4,193 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.22 yen versus the 157.83 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1206 compared to last Friday's $1.1253.