Stock index futures rose on Monday as markets entered the second half of the year after a strong first half.
S&P 500 Futures (Spocks) +0.2%Dow futures (Indu) +0.1%Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND) +0.2%.
The 10-year government bond yield (US10Y) remains unchanged 4.42%. 2-year bond yield (US2Y) remained flat at 4.76%. Government bond yields across the curve On the Seeking Alpha Bonds page.
U.S. stocks failed to hold onto their intraday highs on Friday, steadily shedding gains and ultimately ending lower. However, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 ended the first six months of 2024 up 14%.
Markets were initially higher on Friday after a key core inflation gauge posted its smallest year-over-year increase in three years.
“On the plus side, stocks continued to rise in the second quarter and further gains in the Magnificent Seven helped the S&P 500 hit many more new highs. But the gains were still small and the equally-weighted S&P 500 actually fell in the second quarter,” said Jim Reed of Deutsche Bank.
During this holiday-shortened week, traders will be focusing on June’s employment report on Friday.
“This will be a fairly busy week given the US holidays – Independence Day on Thursday and then skeleton crews on Friday for the latest jobs report, including the all-important payrolls number,” Reid added.
On the economic front today, the release of the PMI Manufacturing Index and ISM Manufacturing Index for June is scheduled for market hours, with the former expected to rise to 51.7 and the latter expected to be at 49.2.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “We expect the ISM manufacturing index to fall below 50 again in June as tight monetary policy continues to hinder the economic recovery.”
“However, there are few clear signs that U.S. manufacturing is recovering,” they added.
Construction spending data for May is also due to be released today and is expected to show a 0.3% increase from the previous month.
