Investor positioning in Dow futures for Monday reflects heightened interest in defensive sectors like utilities and healthcare, anticipating potential market pullbacks later in the week. Materials, utilities, and consumer discretionary stocks recorded the biggest gains on Friday, while consumer staples stocks bucked the overall market trend by closing the session lower. This broad strength helped U.S. stocks settle higher, following the release of inflation data. Still, the three leading indexes saw a positive weekly finish. The broad market S&P 500 rose around 1.1% on the week, along with the 30-stock Dow, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.3%. The small-cap Russell has jumped nearly 2% in the period. Analysts forecast mild upward momentum in Dow futures for Monday given that corporate buybacks are ramping up, offering short-term price support to index components.