Stock Market Today: Stocks pause record rally with jobs and Powell in focus

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U.S. equity futures slipped lower Monday, while Treasury yields and the dollar held steady, as investors pressed pause on a record-setting rally while bracing for a key week of jobs data and two public appearances from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Updated at 7:31 AM EST

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Apple  (AAPL)  shares extended declines in early Monday trading after the tech giant was hit with its first-even EU fine tied to allegations of unfair competition on its app store.

The EU's powerful Competition Commission ordered Apple to pay €1.8 billion ($1.96 billion) for limiting the ability of app developers to notify users of rival options, including Spotify, on its app store.

Apple shares were marked 0.93% lower in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $177.99 each. 

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended at record highs again last week, following on from a fourth consecutive monthly gain for the three major indices, as AI-investment hype continues to power the tech sector and better-than-expected economic data lift growth prospects.

Inflation concerns remain elevated, however, following last week's faster-than-expected reading for the January PCE price index, and are likely to remain in focus again this week through a series of labor-market releases, including Friday's crucial February employment report.

Amid that run of jobs data will also come two days of testimony from Powell, first to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Wednesday and then to the Senate Banking Committee the following day.

The CME Group's FedWatch continues to suggest the Fed will begin cutting rates in June, pegging the chances of a quarter-point reduction at 58%, with at least three more moves lower over the second half.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were last seen trading at 4.204%, while 2-year notes were holding at 4.554%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.03% lower at 103.833.

Powell's semiannual testimony, as well as the labor-market data, will highlight a week that is largely bereft of major corporate earnings, although investors will get updates from Target  (TGT) , Costco  (COST) , Broadcom  (AVGO)  and Oracle  (ORCL)  later in the week.

With nearly all the S&P 500 having reported December-quarter earnings, collective profits are forecast to rise 9.8% from a year earlier to $475.2 billion, with around 76.2% topping Wall Street earnings forecasts.

Current-quarter earnings growth, according to LSEG data, is likely to be in the region of 5.2%, with collective, share-weighted profits of $459.6 billion.

Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures tied to the S&P 500, which closed at a record 5,137.08 points to extend its year-to-date gain to 7.7%, are priced for a 6 point opening-bell decline.

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, suggest a 94 point opening-bell dip while those tied to the Nasdaq are indicating an 8 point gain for the tech-focused benchmark.

In overseas markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 crossed the 40,000 point mark for the first time Monday, ending the session 0.5% higher at 40,109.23 points, powered in part by surging chip and tech stocks.

In Europe, the regionwide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.08% lower in Frankfurt, largely tracking U.S. equity futures, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.45%.  

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