Futures rise as focus shifts to midterm elections By Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Monday even as Beijing reaffirmed over the weekend that it would stick to its zero COVID-19 policy, while investor focus shifted to Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Republicans have picked up momentum in polls and analysts see a split government, with the GOP winning the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, as the likely outcome possibly hindering Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda.

A split government could result in political gridlock that stymies major policy changes, an outcome that investors see as favorable for equities.

U.S. consumer prices for October are due to be released on Thursday. Economists expect the annual consumer prices inflation to slow to 8.0% and the core numbers to dip to 6.5%.

Both the midterm elections and inflation are likely to provide major cues for Wall Street after a volatile week dominated by mixed jobs report and hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

At 04:47 a.m. ET, were up 101 points, or 0.31%, were up 10.25 points, or 0.27%, and were up 21.75 points, or 0.2%.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) fell 1.1% in premarket trading after the company said it expected lower shipments of premium iPhone 14 models than previously anticipated.

Meta Platforms Inc jumped 3.1% following a report that the Facebook (NASDAQ:) parent was planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week that will affect thousands of employees.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms JD (NASDAQ:).Com Inc, Alibaba (NYSE:) Group Holding Ltd and Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:) rose between 1.3% and 2.1%, despite Beijing’s reaffirmation of its strict COVID-19 policies over the weekend.