U.S. stock futures were little changed on Sunday night as investors shrugged off a Twitter tirade from President Donald Trump over the weekend that could lead to more White House turmoil this week.
Dow Jones industrial average futures traded just 18 points lower as of 7:33 p.m. ET, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures both slipped 0.1 percent. Both implied a slight decline at the open, but with trading so light, it is hard to make that determination at this stage.
On Sunday morning, Trump accused Special Counsel Robert Mueller of hiring “hardened Democrats” to probe alleged ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. Mueller is a Republican who has held appointments under Democratic and GOP presidents.
The president also dismissed the idea of former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe – who was fired on Friday just two days before his retirement – having incriminating documents on him. Shortly after his firing, several media reports suggested McCabe kept a file of notes on his discussions with Trump, similar to documents former FBI Director James Comey is said to have taken.
Trump called those documents “fake memos” in a tweet.
Futures may not be reacting to Trump’s latest tweetstorm, but the recent turmoil in Washington has this bull market “limping,” according to Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
“Washington has turned into more of a headwind than a tailwind recently,” Calvasina told CNBC’s “Futures Now” recently. She added, however, the major averages could still reach new highs despite all the news out of Washington. “It feels like the bull is limping a little in here, but generally we see more reasons to be positive than negative.”
Investors have been paying close attention to Washington recently amid a shift in trade policy and two key departures from the Trump administration. Trump signed two proclamations imposing charges on steel and aluminum imports earlier this month. Gary Cohn, who disagreed with Trump on implementing the tariffs, resigned from his post as director of the National Economic Council. Trump also fired Rex Tillerson from his post as Secretary of State last week, replacing him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday with new Fed chief Jerome Powell giving his first press conference.
