U.S. index futures showed little movement in pre-market trading on Monday, in a week that promises to be busy with the release of inflation data and financial results from major companies in the financial and consumer sectors.
At 6:12 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) rose 4 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.03%, and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.02%. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.309%.
In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August fell 1.18% to $82.18 per barrel. Brent crude for September fell 0.97% to around $85.70 per barrel. Investors are watching threats to crude oil production posed by a hurricane in the U.S. and wildfires in Canada.
The most traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) fell 3.34% to $113.55 per metric ton. Benchmark iron ore for August on the Singapore Exchange fell 1.8% to $108.4 per ton.
On the U.S. economic indicators agenda for Monday, May’s consumer credit will be released at 3:00 PM.
Asia-Pacific markets mostly closed lower on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.32%, closing at 40,780.7, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.68%. In South Korea, the Kospi decreased by 0.16%. China’s CSI300 and Shanghai Composite fell 0.85% and 0.93%, respectively. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.76%. These declines come as investors await China’s inflation data and central bank decisions from South Korea, New Zealand, and Malaysia.
In Japan, real wages fell for the 26th consecutive month, decreasing by 1.4% year-on-year in May, despite a nominal increase to $1,850 (297,151 yen). Shares of Samsung Electronics (KOSPI:005930) in South Korea rose 0.34%, despite a strike by its main union, which has about 28,000 members, demanding improvements in the bonus system and an extra annual day off.
European markets showed slight gains on Monday morning after parliamentary elections in France resulted in a hung parliament following a surprising victory by a coalition of left-wing parties. The victory of the Left People’s Front in France, which won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, did not secure an absolute majority, leaving markets considering the possibility of a hung parliament. Analysts indicate this was the market’s expectation, although the result was more left-leaning than anticipated. Additionally, the new coalition’s aggressive fiscal and spending strategies raise concerns among investors about future political and economic stability.
In the UK, the new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, presented a series of measures aimed at revitalizing the country’s stagnant economic growth and addressing the critical housing shortage, highlighting urgent planning system reforms as a central point of her strategy. In corporate news, shares of Britvic (LSE:BVIC) rose 4.9% after accepting a £3.3 billion acquisition offer from Carlsberg (TG:CBGB). Carlsberg shares rose 3.1%.
On Friday, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, again reaching new record closing highs. The Dow Jones rose 0.17% to 39,375.87, the S&P 500 increased 0.54% to 5,567.19 points, and the Nasdaq jumped 0.90% to 18,352.76 points. In the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq surged 3.5%, the S&P 500 rose 2.0%, and the Dow advanced 0.7%.
The strength on Wall Street was driven by the June employment report, which exceeded expectations with 206,000 new jobs, but also revised down the numbers for April and May. The unemployment rate rose for the third consecutive month to 4.1%, its highest level since November 2021, generating optimism about possible interest rate cuts.
In terms of quarterly reports, transportation manufacturing company Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) is set to report before the market opens.