Stock Futures Rise Ahead of Inflation Data
On Monday morning, stock futures saw an uptick, likely influenced by solid earnings from last week. However, investors are keeping an eye on the inflation data that’s expected to be released shortly.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones industrial average are up by about 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is also showing positive movement, with the NASDAQ adding 0.2% and 0.1% respectively. Recently, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite has hit record highs in its last two trading sessions. The S&P 500 Index wrapped up Friday almost at its highest point since late July.
A notable spike in stock performance last week, the best since June, seems to be driven by easing tariffs and growing confidence in the economy. Many investors are hopeful that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates. This week is quite significant for economic data, especially regarding consumer prices and wholesale inflation reports set to come tomorrow and Thursday. Market watchers are keen for insights on how tariffs might be impacting the economy.
This morning, the spotlight in the chip sector was on NVIDIA (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) after news that the U.S. government plans to take 15% of revenue from specific chips sold to China in exchange for export licenses. In pre-market trading, AMD’s shares dipped by roughly 1.5%, while NVIDIA, which boasts the largest market cap in the world, saw a slight fall of 0.5%.
Interestingly, Intel (INTC), which has been facing challenges, saw its shares rise nearly 3% after reports indicated that CEO Rip Boo Tan would be visiting the White House. This comes just days after President Trump suggested Tan’s resignation.
Meanwhile, mega-cap tech stocks experienced gains, with Tesla (TSLA) surging 1.5%. Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (Meta), and Broadcom (AVGO) also saw increases, although Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL) experienced small declines.
In the cryptocurrency sphere, stocks related to Bitcoin, like MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase Global (Coin), and Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), each saw about a 3% rise, largely due to Bitcoin’s climbing prices. The digital currency recently traded around $120,100 after spiking from approximately $117,000 on Friday afternoon to $122,300 overnight. Bitcoin is flirting with its record high of over $123,200 set back in mid-July.
On another note, gold futures dropped by 2.3% this morning to $3,410 per ounce after reaching a peak late last week. Gold, which had been buoyed by hopes of interest rate cuts, began to lose its footing after the White House announced that gold bars would not incur import tariffs.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, a key U.S. oil benchmark, increased by 0.6% to $64.25 after experiencing a seven-day decline that had pushed prices to their lowest since early June.
Lastly, the yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences various borrowing costs, dipped to 4.26% from 4.28% at Friday’s close. The U.S. dollar index, which gauges the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, rose by 0.3% to 98.46.
