United States stock futures moved higher on Sunday evening (Monday AES) as investors prepared for a key week of economic data and corporate earnings at the start of August trading.
By 10:25 am AEST (12:25 am GMT) Dow futures, S&P 500 futures, and Nasdaq-100 futures had advanced 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.8%, respectively.
Oil prices declined after President Donald Trump said earlier on Sunday he had cancelled a planned attack on Iran.
The three major U.S. equity indexes all closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.5%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1%.
With the major indexes ending Friday near record highs, investors are assessing whether the factors behind the recent rally can continue to support further gains.
Investors will turn to a busy earnings calendar this week for further clues on the health of the broader economy. Results are expected from McDonald’s, Kraft Heinz, Costco Wholesale and Walt Disney, while technology firms including Palantir and semiconductor companies such as Advanced Micro Devices are also scheduled to report.
Markets will also focus on a series of labour market releases, culminating in Friday’s monthly jobs report. Markets are expecting that the U.S. economy added 91,000 non-farm payrolls in July, up from 57,000 jobs in the previous month.
The unemployment rate is forecast to rise slightly to 4.3% from 4.2%.
