Futures market hours are shaping seasonal trends analysis

Futures market hours are shaping seasonal trends analysis. Ahead of Q3 window dressing, portfolio managers are adjusting exposure during lighter-volume hours to avoid visible footprints in day-session liquidity. A dozen of the roughly 160 Americans in their 80s who've spoken with Business Insider about their jobs this year said they recently became self-employed after being laid off, experiencing financial instability, or facing a health condition that made full-time work too difficult. They said they have tried to apply for jobs, only to be rejected time and time again amid a tight labor market. A few others had been self-employed for decades. Elsewhere, the employment index nudged higher to a still-contractionary 47.2 while the prices index also was edged up to 69.4. Order backlogs posted a strong 6.9-point gain to 47.3 while new orders and inventories both fell by more than 5 points. Futures market hours are particularly vital during FOMC announcement weeks. Analysts see the strongest index futures swings between 2:00–3:30 a.m. ET when Asia reacts, and again between 8:15–8:45 a.m. ET in pre-market U.S. as rate expectations recalibrate.