The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Monday, with stocks likely to add to the strong gains posted last week.

Stocks may benefit from a positive reaction to news President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.

Bessent is seen as supportive of the equity markets and an advocate for deficit reduction. He has also called for Trump’s planned tariff increases to be implemented gradually, which could reduce the impact on inflation.

“Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is perceived as being a relatively conventional and safe pair of hands candidate,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. “Importantly, Bessent is seen as being less aggressive on tariffs than some of the rhetoric espoused by Trump on the campaign trail.”

He added, “A fall in bond yields in response to his unveiling suggests some of the concern about a new wave of inflationary pressures from import tariffs has eased and that Bessent might be able to do something to bring the U.S. deficit under control.”

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of several key economic reports in the coming days.

A report on personal income and spending the month of October is likely to be in the spotlight, as it includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation readings.

Reports on consumer confidence, new home sales and durable goods orders are also likely to attract attention along with the minutes of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting.

Extending the upward move seen over the course of Thursday’s session, stocks saw continued strength during trading on Friday. The Dow led the way higher once again, reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, with the Dow jumping 426.16 points or 1.0 percent to 44,296.51. The S&P 500 also climbed 20.63 points or 0.4 percent to 5,969.34, while the Nasdaq rose 31.23 points or 0.2 percent to 19,003.65.

With the continued upward move, the major averages posted strong gains for the week, partly offsetting the sharp pullback seen last week.

For the week, the Dow surged by 2.0 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both shot up by 1.7 percent.

Stocks rallied in reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory early this month but gave back ground the following week before rebounding in recent sessions.

The advance by the markets came despite a pullback by shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), as the AI darling tumbled by 3.2 percent.

Nvidia fluctuated before ending Thursday’s session up by 0.5 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings and revenues.

Overall trading appeared somewhat subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data next week, including readings on consumer price inflation preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Among individual stocks, shares of Gap (NYSE:GAP) surged after the apparel retailer reported better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Meanwhile, shares of Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) came under pressure after the financial software company reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

In U.S. economic news, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved less than previously estimated in the month of November.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for November was downwardly revised to 71.8 from the preliminary reading of 73.0.

While the downward revision surprised economists, who had expected the reading to be upwardly revised to 73.7, the index is still above the final October reading of 70.5.

Despite the unexpected downward revision, the consumer sentiment index is also still at its highest level since hitting 77.2 in April.

Networking stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, resulting in a 2.1 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. The index reached its best closing level in well over three months.

Housing stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.6 percent.

Banking, biotechnology and oil service stocks also saw notable strength, while utilities stocks gave back some ground.