Stock futures are little changed after S&P 500 posts first winning day in September: Live updates

These moves come as investors bet that a widely anticipated interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 17-18 meeting could help assuage concerns over a weakening economy. August’s payrolls report, which came out last Friday, reflected growth of 142,000, below economists’ expectations. The results helped fuel a sell-off that day.

Traders have their eyes on two key economic reports that will likely be the next catalysts for stocks. The consumer price index report for August is due out Wednesday, followed by the producer price index on Thursday.

September is historically a weak month for equities. Investors remain cautious about seasonality’s effect on stock performance as well as uncertainty around the approaching U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

“We concur with the view that the market is likely to remain choppy at least until the election,” Bank of America equity and quantitative strategist Ohsung Kwon wrote Monday. “Macro data have been weakening, especially in manufacturing/goods, which represent 50% of earnings for the S&P 500.”