US index futures advanced in pre-market trading on Monday, driven by investor attention to the US political landscape and Verizon’s quarterly results.
At 4:56 AM, Dow Jones futures rose 60 points, or 0.15%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.32%, and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.54%. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds stood at 4.232%.
In the commodities market, oil prices rose on expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, scheduled to begin in September. At the same time, China’s economic slowdown of 4.7% in the second quarter also impacts demand for oil.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August rose 0.34% to $80.40 per barrel. Brent oil for September rose 0.27%, close to US$82.85 per barrel.
Most Asia-Pacific markets faced declines on Monday due to Joe Biden’s surprise decision to support Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate and the unexpected interest rate cut by the People’s Bank of China. China’s central bank unexpectedly reduced the 7-day reverse repo rate from 1.8% to 1.7%, which surprised markets and was not anticipated by economists. The Indian rupee reached an all-time low, and the failure of the Windows operating system also impacted markets.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell below the 40,000-point mark, losing 1.16% on Monday. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.61%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.50%. South Korea’s Kospi and Kosdaq fell 1.14% and 2.26%, respectively. The Taiwan Weighted Index led the losses with a 2.68% drop. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.27%.
This week, investors will focus on GDP data from South Korea and the US, which will be released on Thursday, and inflation figures from the US and Singapore.
European markets are operating higher, except for the oil, gas, travel, leisure, retail and insurance sectors. Investors also monitor S&P 500 futures, Ryanair (LSE:0RYA) earnings and Spanish consumer confidence data.
US stocks fell last Friday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 extending losses from previous sessions. The Dow Jones fell 377.49 points, or 0.93%, to 40,287.53 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.71% and the Nasdaq slid 0.81%. The IT disruption caused by the CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) upgrade affected market sentiment, resulting in a decline in technology stocks. Last week, the Nasdaq fell 3.7% and the S&P 500 fell 2.0%, but the Dow rose 0.7%.
Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign on Sunday after other Democrats lost confidence in his mental capacity and in his ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race uncertain. Investors discuss the impact of this on the markets, with uncertainty about future Democratic policies.
Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race may not impact the stock market like LBJ’s departure in 1968. While LBJ caused an immediate rally in the market, the current situation is different: Biden’s departure was widely expected, and market sentiment is more optimistic, which could reduce any positive reaction.
Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States, is seen as a potential Democratic presidential candidate. During her tenure as California’s attorney general, she took action against anticompetitive practices and privacy issues in technology, and was prominent in the fight against “revenge porn,” which refers to the practice of sharing or publishing sexually explicit images or videos of someone without their consent.
Known for her close relationships with the technology industry and her efforts on environmental justice, Harris has also expressed significant concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence.
Harris met briefly with Xi Jinping during the 2022 APEC summit but did not visit China as vice president. Her approach to China may differ from typical Democratic positions, although experts see it as still unclear. In China, she is generating debates on social media, with many believing that her candidacy could return Donald Trump to the presidency. A Weibo poll showed that about 80% of users think Trump would beat Harris.
Due to release quarterly reports today are Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE:TFC), Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH), HBT Financial (NASDAQ:HBT), IQVIA Holdings (NYSE:IQV), Kaspi.kz (NASDAQ:KSPI), Dynex Capital (NYSE:DX), and more.
After the close, numbers are expected from Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF), Nucor (NYSE:NUE), NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI), SAP (NYSE:SAP), Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS), MedPace Holdings (NASDAQ:MEDP), Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK), AGNC Investment Corp (NASDAQ:AGNC), Logitech International (NASDAQ:LOGI), Agilysys (NASDAQ:AGYS), among others.