The 20,000 milestone for the Dow industrials appeared tantalizingly close on Monday, though U.S. stock futures hinted at a struggle ahead as investors focused on this week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
A rally by oil appeared to have little effect on stock futures, as investors turned their focus to the Fed gathering. The U.S. dollar was trading at levels against the Japanese yen not seen since early 2016.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 15 points to 19,726, while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5 points to 2,254.50. More weakness was seen for technology stocks, with Nasdaq-100 futures futures off 20.50 points, or 0.4%, to 4,873.
The key stock markets closed at a record high on Friday, with the S&P 500 posting its longest winning streak since June 2014. The index finished at a record 2,259.53. The Nasdaq Composite closed at a high of 5,444.50.
Much investor attention is now focused on whether the Dow industrials will make it to an all-time high of 20,000 as soon as Monday. The index closed at a record 19,756.85 on Friday, in a run for stocks that has left many analysts surprised. All three indexes, including the Nasdaq Composite gained over 3% for the week.
But some concerns about the Federal Reserve two-day meeting, which ends Wednesday, were leaking into sentiment.
"The looming risk is Wednesday's FOMC meeting--not so much the fact that we'll see a quarter-point rate hike, as this is fully priced in anyway, but the idea that if we see a hawkish tone over the rate outlook for 2017, then this could be the catalyst that leaves traders reaching for the sell button," Jamieson Blake, retail sales manager at ADS Securities, told clients in a note.