Stock futures are slightly higher Monday morning at the start of an extraordinarily busy week for financial markets.
Futures tried to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.1% recently, while those linked to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Stocks have rallied recently—the benchmark S&P 500 closed at a record high every day last week—as investor concerns about tariffs have subsided, while corporate earnings and economic data have remained strong.
The U.S. and European Union announced Sunday they had reached an agreement under which most imports from the 27-country bloc would face a 15% tariff, half the rate that President Donald Trump had earlier this month announced would take effect on Aug. 1. The E.U. also committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of energy from the U.S., as well as an unspecified amount of military equipment.
Trump has reached a handful of agreements with leading U.S. trading partners in recent weeks as discussions with several countries, notably China, continue. Investors are eager to hear news of more agreements amid uncertainty about the impact that hefty tariffs could have on economic growth and corporate profits.
The earnings and economic calendar is quiet Monday but will be hectic in the coming days. This is the busiest week of the quarter for earnings reports, headlined by the scheduled releases of quarterly results from technology giants Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms. On the economic front, investors are awaiting second-quarter GDP data, a key inflation reading and the July jobs report. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is set to make a decision on interest rates Wednesday.
Mega-cap tech stocks were higher across the board in premarket trading Monday. Tesla (TSLA) shares were up 1.5% after the company announced it had reached a deal worth about $16 billion to buy its next generation AI chips from Korea’s Samsung. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) were each up less than 1%.
Bitcoin was at $119,000 this morning, up from its late-Friday levels of around $116,500. The digital currency isn’t far from its record high of $123,000 amid optimism about support for cryptocurrency at the White House and in Congress, while a growing number of companies build their bitcoin holdings. Shares of major bitcoin buyer Strategy (MSTR) were up 3% this morning.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up 0.6% at 98.20. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on a wide array of consumer and business loans, was at 4.40% in recent trading, up from 4.39% at Friday’s close.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up 1.7% to $66.25 per barrel, rebounding from a sharp decline on Friday. Gold futures were holding steady at $3,335 an ounce, after losing ground for three straight days.
