Feb. 10, 2014, 8:12 a.m. EST
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Stock futures fell Monday with investors wondering whether markets should have risen so sharply last week, as they wait for testimony from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who could offer up more insight on the central bank’s tapering strategy
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJH4 -0.11% fell 31 points to 15,708, while those for the S&P 500 index SPH4 -0.15% eased 4 points to 1,789.50, and the Nasdaq 100 indexNDH4 0.00% eased 0.25 point to 3,557.75.
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Wall Street shook off some disappointing jobs data on Friday and finished the week with modest gains, lifted by a two-day rally. The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA +1.06% closed near session highs, adding 165.55 points, or 1.1%, to 15,794.08, and gained 0.6% for the week, breaking a two-week losing run. The S&P 500SPX +1.33% closed up 23.59 points, or 1.3%, at 1,797.02 and recorded a 0.8% weekly gain after three straight weeks of losses.
The big event this week will be Fed Chairwoman Yellen’s first semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress, coming on Tuesday to the House Financial Services Committee. She is scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. History shows that her predecessor Ben Bernanke has given the market a boost in the past with those testimonies .
There is no key data on the docket for Monday.
Stock futures were not seeing any benefit from a jump in Chinese shares on Monday, after a quarterly report by the Chinese central bank over the weekend guaranteed it would maintain adequate liquidity. European stocks took inspiration from Asia. The dollar pared some gains, and gold extended its winning streak, while oil edged back from $100 a barrel.
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The corporate calendar is fairly quiet for Monday. McDonald’s Corp. MCD -0.26% is due to report monthly sales ahead of the open, while Hasbro HAS -1.67% is forecast to post fourth-quarter earnings of $1.21 a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet.
Loews Corp. L +0.98% L +0.98% said its fourth-quarter loss widened owing to impairment charges that offset growth for its CNA Financial Corp. CNA +2.09% unit .
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Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Follow her on Twitter @bkollmeyer.
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