U.S. Stocks May Give Back Ground In Early Trading
After closing higher for four consecutive sessions, stocks may give back ground in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 89 points.
Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street after the recent winning streak lifted the major averages to record closing highs last Friday.
The rally represented a remarkable turnaround for the markets following the sell-off last Monday, which dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in almost a month.
Upbeat earnings news contributed to rebound along with continued optimism about the economy despite some concerns about the spread of new coronavirus variants.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will be paying close attention to any comments regarding the central bank’s asset purchase program.
Traders are also likely to keep an eye on some key U.S. economic data, including reports on durable goods orders, consumer confidence, second quarter GDP and personal income and spending.
Not long after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of June. New home sales are expected to jump by 3.5 percent in June after tumbling by 5.9 percent in May.
Earnings news may also continue to attract attention this week, with Tesla (TSLA), General Electric (GE), Alphabet (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Boeing (BA), McDonald’s (MCD), Pfizer (PFE), Amazon (AMZN), and Exxon Mobil (XOM) among a slew of companies due to report their quarterly results.
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending the rebound from the steep drop seen on Monday. With the continued advance, the major averages all reached new record closing highs.
The major averages finished the session just off their highs of the day. The Dow climbed 238.20 points or 0.7 percent to 35,061.55, the Nasdaq surged up 152.39 points or 1 percent to 14,836.99 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.31 points or 1 percent to 4,411.79.
For the week, the Dow shot up by 1.1 percent, while the S&P 500 spiked by 2 percent and the Nasdaq soared by 2.8 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Monday, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and jumped by 1 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 2.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged by 4.1 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is just below the unchanged line, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are edging down $0.08 to $71.99 barrel after inching up $0.16 to $72.07 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after slipping $3.60 to $1,801.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are ticking up $1.30 to $1,803.10 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 110.38 yen versus the 110.55 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1782 compared to last Friday’s $1.1771.
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