4:08pm: Retail sales data coming Tuesday morning
The Dow closed Monday up 27 points, 0.1%, at 35,308, the Nasdaq Composite added 143 points, 1.1%, to 13,788 and the S&P 500 gained 26 points, 0.6%, to 4,490. The small-cap Russell 2000 index slid 5 points, 0.3%, to 1,920.
The Dow seesawed around the flatline before ultimately eking out a win. The Nasdaq was buoyed by a rally among tech stocks, even as Tesla shares fell 1.4% after the company announced a cut of certain Model Y prices in China.
Investors are also looking ahead to retail sales data from July, which is expected to be published Tuesday morning.
12:05pm: Stocks gain ground ahead of Walmart and Home Depot results
US stocks were higher in noon trading as Walmart and Home Depot are set to report financial results this week.
At midday, the Dow gained 18 points to 35,299 while the S&P 500 added 18 points at 4,482 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 94 points to 13,738.
“Some retracement of the broad market since July 31 suggests to us a pause that refreshes has likely occurred, rather than the end of the bull market,” Oppenheimer chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus wrote in a note.
Notable movers included shares of PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), which rose more than 2% after the payments company said current Intuit executive Alex Chriss will replace long-time CEO Dan Schulman in September.
9:40am: Chinese property concerns unsettle Wall Street
It was a mixed picture on Wall Street as stocks continued a sluggish start to August dented by concerns about the health of China’s property sector.
Shortly after the opening bell, The Dow Jones Industrial Average had edged up 14.01 points at 35,295.41, the S&P 500 was down 7.36 points, 0.2%, at 4,456.69 while the Nasdaq Composite was 52.97 points, 0.4% at 13,591.88.
Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com said: “Concerns surrounding the perilous financial state of some of China’s largest property developers and the nation’s post pandemic economic struggles have dented investor sentiment.”
Shares in Country Garden slumped to a record low on Monday after the Chinese property developer suspended trading in at least 10 of its mainland bonds.
The company, formerly the largest developer in China by sales, missed international bond payments last week and at the weekend said several bonds issued by the company and its subsidiaries would be suspended from trading this week.
Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics said: "The immediate global economic and market fallout from troubles at Chinese property developer Country Garden seems likely to be limited."
"Foreign exposure to China’s property sector has fallen sharply over recent years and policymakers should step in to prevent a meltdown in China."
"However, the developer’s problems are indicative of a structural downturn which will shape the global economy for years to come," she added.
Stocks on the move include US Steel Corp which 25% after the company rejected a takeover offer from peer Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) and said it will instead start a review of its strategic options.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) slipped 3.0%, triggering a sell-off for other producers of electric vehicles, after it rolled out a new round of price cuts in China. Rivian Automotive fell 3.6% in response.
Elsewhere, retailers will be in the spotlight with retail sales figures tomorrow plus earnings from Home Depot, Target and Walmart.
7:00am: Futures point to a positive start on Wall Street
The Nasdaq looks set to lead US markets higher at the open on Monday after making a sluggish start to August.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2% higher, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.4%.
The tech-laden Nasdaq fell 1.9% last week taking its losing streak to two weeks for the first time this year.
Earnings this week will focus on the health of the consumer with results from the likes of Walmart, Target, and Home Depot. Today, there is a tech theme as CRM stock Monday.com releases second quarter earnings.
Aside from earnings the key release will be the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes as investors look for clues as to Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting but investors will be closely monitoring the language in the minutes to gauge the tone towards future policy.
Concerns over the health of the Chinese property sector may limit gains after the country’s biggest private property developer, Country Garden, said it would suspend trading in some bonds.
“A crisis in the Chinese real estate sector is a story the market has heard before and not one which has typically come with a happy ending for stocks,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
But for now, futures are indicating US markets are shrugging this development aside.