U.S. stock futures point to a higher opening on Monday as the market reopens after a long weekend. The price consumption expenditure index released Friday showed that the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose in line with expectations. Although Fed Chair Powell said on Friday that the central bank wasn’t in a hurry to cut rates, the market has begun discounting downward rate adjustments, beginning in June. Commenting on the data, Jeffery Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial said, “The trajectory for consumer spending is weakening, especially since real disposable incomes declined in February. Core services inflation is slowing and will likely continue throughout the year.” “By the time the Fed meets in June, the data should be convincing enough for them to commence it's rate normalization process.” Cues From Previous Week U.S. stocks closed the holiday-shortened week ended March 28 on a mixed note, with the tech stocks reporting modest losses for the week, while the broader S&P 500 Index and the Dow Industrials recorded gains. The latter two ended at fresh record highs. After starting the previous week on a weak note amid profit-taking after the Fed meeting, stocks showed lackluster sentiment yet again on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they snapped a three-session losing streak and advanced solidly before ending the final trading session on a mixed note. Index Week’s Performance (+/-) Quarterly Performance (+/-) Value Nasdaq Composite -0.30% +9.11% 16,379.46 S&P 500 Index +0.39% +10.16% 5,254.35 Dow Industrials +0.84% +5.62% 39,807.37 Russell 2000 +2.54% +4.80% 2,124.55 Insights From Analysts: Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick pointed to data that suggests the market’s upward momentum could continue this year. He noted that since 1950, the S&P 500 Index closed the first quarter higher than the December lows in 37 years, while in the remaining 37 years, it didn’t. If the December low wasn’t violated, the market was higher 95% of the time the average gain has been 18.8%, ...