4.15pm: Wall Street hits new peaks
On Monday, all three major indexes closed higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh records, as investors prepared for a Federal Reserve policy decision and key inflation data later in the week.
At the close, the S&P was at 5,361 points for a 0.3% gain, the Nasdaq finished at 17,193 for a 0.4% rise and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.2% up at 38,868.
The positive momentum was supported by strength in a mixed May nonfarm payrolls report, suggesting the Fed may maintain interest rates at their current levels for longer. Investors are now awaiting the Fed's rate decision and May's Consumer Price Index inflation reading on Wednesday, which will be crucial indicators for the stock market.
"As far as the bigger picture goes, we are still getting mixed signals and the market has been able to trade higher and focus on the positive aspects of recent data," commented Freedom Capital Markets (NASDAQ:FRHC) chief global strategist Jay Woods.
"Overall, job openings have fallen to the lowest level in three years and hiring appears to have slowed. This keeps a glimmer of hope that potentially the Federal Reserve could still cut interest rates later this year."
Additionally, political developments in Europe, such as France's snap national election and Germany's political challenges, have also been closely monitored, leading to fluctuations in the euro and European stock markets.
12.10pm: Sentiment improves
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have climbed into the green in late morning as some tech megacaps reversed earlier falls, Nvidia in particular.
Others like Microsoft, Amazon and Meta all increased gains as the morning part of the session wore on.
"Given the developments of recent days it is perhaps surprising that stock markets have not suffered heavier losses," says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
After the stellar payrolls report at the end of last week dealt a further blow to hopes of a US rate cut, the US CPI inflation print and the Federal Reserve meeting on the calendar for Wednesday means there was "little incentive for traders to plunge back in" earlier.
That seems to have changed in the past hour or two.
"But a booming US economy is ultimately good for stocks, and the shock of French elections may turn out to be a buying opportunity if Macron’s gamble pays off. Investors should be prepared for the Fed to err on the side of hawkishness this week, but not excessively so, and the bar to further rate hikes is still very high," says Beauchamp.
9.35am: Wall Street opens lower
Wall Street has opened slightly lower on Monday after last week's strong performance, with the markets bracing for the Fed's interest rate decision and May inflation figures.
The Dow Jones opened 0.2% lower at 38,718, while the Nasdaq started the day down 0.24% at 17,086. The S&P 500 began trading at 5,335 down by around 0.22%
Stocks making movements today included KKR Asset Management (NYSE:KKR), up 7%, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD), up 5.5%, and GoDaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY), up 2%, after all three companies were promoted to the S&P 500, joining the leading index on June 24.
They will replace Robert Half, Comerica and Illumina.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) and Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) both slumped, 1% and 2.5% respectively, as two promotion pretenders weren't added to the index.
8.35am: Wall Street to open lower
In the US, stocks are set to open lower as the markets react to the growing uncertainty in Europe and digest last week's jobs data, which may lead to some hawkish comments from the Fed at its interest rate meeting later this week.
Futures for the Dow Jones are implying it will open at 38,827, down 41 points, while the S&P 500 is expected to open 5 points lower at 5,353.
The Nasdaq is predicted to begin the week 14 points down at 19,030.
While economists react to the effects of a weaker euro and high interest rates for longer in the US, tech investors will be turning their focus to Apple and its AI strategy, which is set to be unveiled later today.
There’s a sense that the company missed the boat when OpenAI’s groundbreaking ChatGPT large-language model heralded a brave new world of AI-led innovation.
After all, Apple’s age-old rival, Microsoft, provided the financial resources to make ChatGPT a reality. Now Microsoft is on the brink of releasing a new breed of AI-powered personal computers.
Wedbush analysts said: "“In our view, [the event] represents the most important event for Apple in over a decade as the pressure to bring a generative AI stack of technology for developers and consumers is front and center with Cook & Co. set to make history for Cupertino next Monday.”