U.S. index futures indicate a positive opening in Monday’s pre-market, extending the robust gains achieved last week.

At 06:36 AM, the futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOWI:DJI) rose 102 points, or 0.26%. The S&P 500 futures advanced 0.29%, and the Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.24%. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds was at 4.473%.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June rose 1.01%, to $78.90 per barrel. Brent crude for July rose 0.87%, near $83.69 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian Exchange rose 2.63%, to $123.56 per metric ton.

European markets are showing gains, influenced by investors’ continued reassessment of the possibility of interest rate cuts, in response to weaker-than-expected U.S. employment data, along with new economic indicators from Europe. A significant highlight was the release of the final S&P composite purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone, which showed a rapid expansion of business activity. This index, crucial for assessing economic performance, rose to 51.7 in April, up from 50.3 in March, marking the fastest expansion in nearly a year and boosting market optimism.

Asian and Pacific markets closed higher on Monday, with notable performances from China and Australia, following a positive close on Wall Street last week that fueled expectations of interest rate cuts in the United States. In China, after a three-day holiday break, the Shanghai SE rose 1.16%, influenced by optimism generated by the recent Politburo meeting. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index advanced 0.55%. On the other hand, Japan and South Korea saw no stock market movements due to local holidays. In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 0.70%.

On Friday, U.S. stocks maintained positive momentum, with the Dow Jones advancing 450.02 points, the S&P 500 gaining 63.59 points, and the Nasdaq surging 315.37 points. Over the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Dow advanced 1.1% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.4%. The Department of Labor’s employment report revealed lower-than-expected job growth, but this paradoxically raised market optimism. The unemployment rate rose slightly and wage growth slowed, signaling less inflationary pressure, generating expectations that the Federal Reserve might maintain a more flexible stance on interest rates. Another highlight was the exceptional performance of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), with its shares rising 6.0% following the release of fiscal second-quarter results that exceeded expectations and the announcement of a $110 billion share buyback.

For the quarterly earnings front, reports are scheduled to be presented before market open from Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE), BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), JLL (NYSE:JLL), Napco Security Technologies (NASDAQ:NSSC), Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ:KRYS), Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM), Alpha Metallurgical Resources (NYSE:AMR), Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ:FRPT), among others.

After the close, results from Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM), Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS), Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID), Realty Income (NYSE:O), Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB), Teradata (NYSE:TDC), Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX), Axon Enterprise Inc (NASDAQ:AXON), and more are awaited.

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