The big test for US stocks may come later this week- S+P 500 futures edge lower today

The US stock markets all extracted the positives from the blowout jobs report on Friday. There is no doubt there was plenty to shout about when it came to that data and so the stock markets looked at what this means for the economic outlook, more rather than the monetary policy outlook. So, that data might help the Fed to hold off on more aggressive rate cuts, but the markets already know which way the Fed wants to go and this latest jobs data will probably not detract from that. What it will do is enhance the prospect of a soft landing and that is good for stocks. Hence, US stocks rebounded, after initially falling back. The S+P 500 held that 5,700 level again too, basing out at 5,702.83. It later rebounded all the way to the close, where it ended the week at 5,751.07, with a gain of 51 points on the day. Overnight the futures have edged backwards though and in truth not given much away in terms of any directional clues this morning. The really important data event for the index comes later this week, on Thursday, at 12.30pm GMT. This is the US September CPI report and it could really have an impact. There will be more to add on this in due course. Meantime, the S+P 500 is currently priced to reopen a little lower later today, just now at around 5,743