The average U.S. stock market today rose 8.7 percent in October amid an uptrend in the stock market, according to data from Refinitiv Lipper. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14% during October, its best monthly gain since 1976 (the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained in single digits).

U.S. stock market futures traders this week will be watching the midterm U.S. Congressional elections and waiting for data on U.S. consumer price activity in October.

Last week the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) met. The Federal Reserve expectedly raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points at the end of the fourth meeting in a row – up to 3.75-4% per year, the highest since January 2008.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said during a press conference following the meeting that the Fed may begin discussing a slowdown in the rate hike as early as the December meeting. However, he added that it’s too early to talk about a pause in the cycle of rate hikes; its limit will be higher than previously expected.

Currently, the US stock market futures generally expect that in December the Fed will go to a slowdown rate hike and raise it by 50 basis points after raising by 75 bps at the four previous meetings; writes Trading Economics.

Also, market participants are waiting for data on October inflation in the U.S., which may affect the Fed’s decision. The report will be released Thursday, and analysts polled by Trading Economics on average expect it to point to a slowdown in inflation in October to 8% from September’s 8.2%.

Earlier, we reported that Tesla stock fell to its lowest level since June 2021.