Stock futures rise after Dow falls for 8th-straight week in relentless sell-off

Stock futures rose in overnight trading Sunday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for its 8th straight week amid a broader market sell-off.

Futures on the Dow industrial average gained 224 points, or 0.72%. S&P 500 futures added 0.9% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.11%.

The moves came after the S&P 500 on Friday dipped into bear market territory on an intraday basis. While the benchmark was down 20% at one point, it did not close in a bear market after a late-day comeback.

In Friday’s regular trading session, the S&P 500 closed 0.01% higher at 3,901.36 after falling as much as 2.3% earlier in the session. The Dow added 8.77 points at 31,261.90 after sinking as much as 600 points and the Nasdaq inched 0.3% lower.

The S&P 500 currently sits 19% off its record high while the Dow is down 15.4%. The Nasdaq is already deep in bear market territory, down 30% from its high.

Last week marked the Dow’s first eight-week losing streak since 1923, while the S&P 500 capped a seven-week losing streak, its worst since 2001.

The Nasdaq saw its seventh negative week in a row for the first time since March 2001. The tech-heavy index also saw its lowest intraday level since November 2020 on Friday.

Eight of 11 sectors ended the week in the red, led by consumer staples, which dipped 8.63% and had its worst weekly performance since March 2020. Energy finished the week on top, rising 1.09%. Consumer discretionary and communication services also finished the week more than 32% off their 52-week highs.

“Investors are trying to come to grips with what exactly is happening and always try to guess what the outcome is,” said Susan Schmidt of Aviva Investors. “Investors hate, and the markets hate uncertainty, and this is a period where they don’t have any clear indication on what’s going to happen with this push-pull between inflation and the economy.”

Investors are looking ahead to a new batch of earnings this week, including an array of big retail names. Zoom Video is set to report results Monday followed by Costco, Nvidia, Dollar General, Nordstrom and Macy’s later in the week.