Stock Market Today: Dow futures dip as investors await key economic data

Emerging markets have had a good run — the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF is up 7.5% this month — with sentiment given a lift by China's stimulus and the Federal Reserve's 50 basis point interest rate cut on Sept. 18.

And still the sector remains undervalued and underowned, according to a team of analysts at JPMorgan.

However, the EM rally should be faded they say. That's because there's too much uncertainty about the U.S. election, the outcome of which, if recent history is any guide, may determine the fate of EM assets in the coming months.

For more on this, and much else besides, read Monday's Need to Know, via the link below.

How are stock-index futures trading:

S&P 500 futures fell 0.03%

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.04%

Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.08%

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 137.89 points, or 0.33%, to 42,313 as the S&P 500 fell 7.2 points, or 0.13%, to 5,738, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 106.91 points, or 0.53%, to 20,009.

Stock futures dipped on Monday morning as investors waited to see what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will say this afternoon at the National Association for Business Economics annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

With U.S. inflation now slowing down towards the Fed's 2% target rate, Powell's speech is likely to offer clues as to whether America's central bank might be willing to make another sharp 50 basis point cut at its upcoming meeting in November.

Aside from Powell's talk, investors are also awaiting fresh Chicago business barometer data and Dallas Fed manufacturing activity data, which will both offer vital information on the health of the U.S. economy.

China's stock market rally also continued on Monday morning after the People's Bank of China unveiled a huge stimulus package last Tuesday that also boosted shares in European luxury companies.

Today marks the last day of trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange before the market is scheduled to close for a week from Tuesday Oct. 1 to Monday Oct. 7 for China's nationwide Golden Week celebrations.

Japanese markets, by contrast, fell on Monday as the country selected Shigeru Ishiba as its new prime minister. Ishiba has previously criticized the Bank of Japan's loose monetary policies.