S&P 500 futures maintained their positive momentum on Monday following a strong week on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach record highs. Futures tied to the broad market index gained 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 1.1%, as markets prepare to reopen for a new trading week following Friday’s U.S. Independence Day holiday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded just below the flatline. Tech stocks rose broadly in early trading. The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) climbed more than 1%, led by a 3% climb in Western Digital and a 4% jump in Teradyne. Marvell Technology and Oracle also gained more than 3% and more than 2%, respectively. The Dow climbed nearly 2% last week, putting it within striking distance of 53,000, a level it has never reached. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also posted sharp gains last week, advancing 1.8% and 2.1%, respectively. Those gains came even as semiconductors — the force behind many of the market’s gains this year — faltered last week, with investors paring exposure to chipmakers and rotating into other sectors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shed 3.2%, marking its second losing week in a row. “The broadening in sector rotation is a big positive, with Financials, Healthcare, and Industrials all closing at new weekly all-time highs this week and more than offsetting the consolidation in Semis,” wrote Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat. “While the semi-decline is a short-term headwind that favors owning other sectors while it settles, it has not dented the broader indices.” Newton expects the S&P 500 to reach 8,000 by mid-August. The benchmark closed last week at 7,483.24, about 7% below the 8,000 mark. Traders this week will turn their eyes to the Federal Reserve, with the minutes of the June meeting—the first led by new Chairman Kevin Warsh—due Wednesday. U.S. Treasury yields inched lower early on Monday as investors looked ahead to the latest FOMC minutes due later in the week and the NATO Summit taking place in Turkey. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was down more than 1 basis point at 4.461%, and the 2-year Treasury note declined by more than 2 basis points to 4.108%. The 30-year bond shed less than 1 basis point to yield 4.979%. Asia-Pacific ended mixed on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed little changed, while the broader Topix gained 0.92%. South Korea’s KOSPI lost 0.46%, and the small-cap Kosdaq tumbled 2.46%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.15% to close at 8,831.00. China’s CSI 300 ended flat at 4,842, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was last trading 0.81% higher. Oil prices were little changed Monday after OPEC+ agreed to further increase its output targets from August while exports from key producers via the Strait of Hormuz are recovering, potentially adding to global supplies. Brent crude futures fell 16 cents to $71.96 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.56 a barrel, down 13 cents. Gold reversed course after hitting a two-week high earlier on Monday, as the U.S. dollar ticked up in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting minutes due later this week. Spot gold was down 0.6% at $4,148.73 an ounce after hitting $4,202.13, its highest since June 22 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.8% to $4,160.40 per ounce. The U.S. dollar gained 0.2%, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies. Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said bullion is in a consolidation phase after having risen more than 2% last week, snapping a four-week slide after weak U.S. job growth data reduced bets for rate hikes.
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