Stock futures were higher Monday as Wall Street tried to recover from another weekly decline. Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 125 points, or nearly 0.4%. Meanwhile, Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.7%. Major retailers are slated to report this week, including Macy’s, Nordstrom and Kohl’s. Key artificial intelligence beneficiary Nvidia and technology firm Snowflake will report after the closing bell Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks jumped 12.7% in premarket trading after reporting earnings results late Friday that topped analysts’ estimates. As of Friday’s close, the stock was down by 16% this month. Investors are coming off a weekly decline as the market struggles through the summer doldrums. The Nasdaq Composite closed the week lower about 2.6%, down for a third straight week for the first time since December. Meanwhile, the Dow closed the week lower by 2.2%, its worst streak since March. The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% and posted its third consecutive losing week, which hadn’t happened since February. Investors digested rising bond yields and weakness out of China that put a damper on markets during a typically lackluster season. “The S&P 500 is sitting in short-term oversold territory, a technical measure encompassing numerous components including investor sentiment along with a host of more esoteric measures,” Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, wrote on Friday. This week, investors are anticipating an address Friday morning from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the central bank’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Monday as investors braced themselves for comments from Federal Reserve officials and economic reports expected throughout the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was up by more than 4 basis points at 4.29%, trading near levels last seen in 2022. The 2-year Treasury yield was trading over 2 basis points higher at 4.97%. Asia-Pacific markets are mixed as China slashed its one-year loan prime rate, but kept its five-year rate unchanged on Monday. The one-year LPR was cut by 10 basis points from 3.55% to 3.45%, while the five-year LPR remained at 4.2%. The five year LPR also serves as a peg for mortgages. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.8% in its final hour, while mainland Chinese markets were also in negative territory, with the CSI 300 down 1.44%, closing at 3,729.56 and hitting its lowest level since November 2022. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.46% to fall to its lowest point since July 11 and closed at 7,115.5, but other markets were all up. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded and gained 0.32% to close at 31,565.64, and the Topix rose 0.24% to finish at 2,241.49. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.17% to snap a six-day losing streak and end at 2,508.8, while the Kosdaq closed 1.3% up at 888.71. Oil prices edged higher on Monday as tighter supply reflected in fewer exports from Saudi Arabia and Russia and high heating oil prices outweighed concerns about global demand growth amid high interest rates. Brent crude climbed 76 cents to $85.56 a barrel by 1047 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $82.1 a barrel, up 85 cents. The September WTI contract expires on Tuesday and the more active October contract gained 78 cents to $81.44 a barrel. Gold held around five-month lows on Monday, pressured by higher bond yields as markets geared up for the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium for clues on where interest rates might settle. Spot gold was largely flat at $1,887.70 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures added 0.1% to $1,917.70.
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