Stock futures are little changed after the S&P 500's best week of 2023: Live updates

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Trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, July 15, 2021.

Source: NYSE

U.S. equity futures were flat on Monday after the major averages capped their best week so far this year.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points, or 0.07%. S&P 500 futures ticked higher by 0.03% and Nasdaq 100 futures hovered below the flat line at 0.01%.

All of the major averages were coming off their best weeks of the year so far, also striking a positive chord to begin November trading. The Dow ended the week at 34,061.32, up by 5.07% in its most winning week since October 2022. The S&P advanced 5.85% to 4,358.34 and the Nasdaq Composite finished the week higher by 6.61% at 13,478.28. It was the best week since November 2022 for both indexes.

"Oversold conditions, solid earnings, hope for an end to the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking campaign, and a sizable pullback in interest rates have brought buyers back into the market," said LPL Financial's Adam Turnquist.

A soft monthly jobs report also drove bond yields lower, giving a boost to equities.

Although the week ahead will be light on economic data and company earnings, seasonal tailwinds could help further the recovery in stocks. November is the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to the Stock Traders' Almanac. Turnquist noted it also kicks off the best six-month return period for the market since 1950. The S&P 500 has generated an average return of 7% from November through April since then, he said.

Earnings season is winding down, with 400 S&P 500 companies having already reported their quarterly financial results. Investors this week are still looking forward to updates this week from Walt Disney, Wynn and MGM Resorts, Occidental Petroleum and D.R. Horton.

Meanwhile, traders will also be watching Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is scheduled to speak twice in the coming days. Last week the central bank kept rates unchanged for a second straight meeting as bond yields tumbled, and investors are hoping its rate-hiking campaign may be over.

"If you look at the totality of the data that has come in over the last several weeks, you see an overall very strong picture," Bharat Ramamurti, former deputy director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" on Friday. "I would be surprised if the Fed was going to raise rates again this year and this may well be the top of the hiking cycle."

Fed Governor Lisa D. Cook is scheduled to speak on Monday. Several other Fed officials are making public remarks later in the week as well, including New York Federal Reserve President and CEO John Williams, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.

South Korea stocks surge after temporary ban on short selling

South Korean stocks jumped after financial authorities said they will be re-imposing a ban on short-selling until the end of June 2024. Short-selling is when a trader sells borrowed shares to buy back at a lower price and pocket the difference.

The ban will restrict short selling of all Kospi, Kosdaq and Konex listed stocks. The curbs were lifted in May 2021 for trades involving the shares of large-cap companies, mostly included in the Kospi.

"We seek to fundamentally resolve the 'tilted playing field' between organizations and individuals," Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said in a press release.

The Kospi jumped 3.93%, while the Kosdaq surged 5.88%.

This comes after a report in mid-October said South Korea's stock market watchdog found two Hong Kong-based investment banks had engaged in naked short-selling, that was expected to have resulted in record fines. Naked short selling is when an investor shorts a stock or other security without borrowing first.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: Citi is bullish about one part of the semiconductor industry. Here are its top stock picks

An upturn in a corner of the semiconductor industry began in the second half of this year, according to Citi.

The jump in September's monthly semiconductor sales beat Citi's estimates. It was up 13% month on month to $49.6 billion, higher than the bank's estimates of $46.9 billion, the bank said.

CNBC takes a look at five of its top stock picks.

Subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Singapore’s largest bank DBS beats forecast, quarterly profit jumps 17%

Southeast Asia's largest lender DBS Group reported a 17% jump in third-quarter profit on Monday, benefiting from a high-interest rate environment.

Shares of the lender rose 0.45% in early afternoon trading.

Net profit rose to 2.63 billion Singaporean dollars ($1.94 billion) during the quarter, compared to SG$2.24 billion a year ago.

It was higher that analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG, which predicted a quarterly profit of SG$2.5 billion for the July to September quarter.

The Singapore bank also declared a dividend of 48 Singapore cents for each ordinary share for the third quarter.

Click here to read the full story.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

CNBC Pro: Growth investor is underweight the Magnificent Seven, but likes one tech giant

The "Magnificent Seven" stocks — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — have proved popular this year, but one growth investor says he is underweight the group.

"The Magnificent has done well and are poised to continue to do well because they have [a] fortress-like balance sheets and they're highly profitable. They used the past two years post Covid to get more efficient, but they also have tremendous opportunities ahead in terms of artificial intelligence," Jonathan Curtis told CNBC's "" on Friday.

However, he said investors needed to be a "little bit more curious and more cautious" on the tech mega-caps -- and revealed his favorite with "tremendous growth potential."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner