Futures Pointing To Modestly Higher Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open on Monday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the rally seen last Friday.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes ahead of U.S.-China trade talks that in London later today that could help ease trade tensions between the two superpowers.

Beijing confirmed that Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend the talks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would likely be present with the U.S. delegation.

After ending Thursday's volatile session mostly lower, stocks showed a significant move back to the upside during trading on Friday. With the strong upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over three months.

The major averages surged early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day. The Nasdaq shot up 231.50 points or 1.2 percent to 19,529.95, the Dow surged 443.13 points or 1.1 percent to 42,762.87 and the S&P 500 jumped 61.06 points or 1.0 percent to 6,000.36.

The rally on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. job growth in the month of May.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs compared to the addition of 177,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in May, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

The modestly bigger than expected increase in employment helped offset concerns about the strength of the economy following some recent downbeat data.

"The slowdown in the job market has been quite smooth so far without many surprises," said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial. "If payroll growth trudges on like this, the Fed will likely remain in 'wait and see' mode." Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.2 percent.

A sharp increase by the price of crude oil also contributed to significant strength among oil service stocks, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.2 percent.

Financial, oil producer and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength, while gold stocks bucked the uptrend amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.45 to $65.03 a barrel after surging $1.21 to $64.58 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after slipping $6 to $3,340.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $28.50 to $3,346.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 144.49 yen versus the 144.85 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1409 compared to last Friday's $1.1397.

Asia

Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday amid hopes that another round of U.S.-China trade talks that will take place in London later today could help ease trade tensions between the two superpowers.

Beijing confirmed that Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend the talks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would likely be present with the U.S. delegation.

The dollar slipped against all major currencies, helping gold prices recover some ground after a two percent loss over the previous two sessions. Oil prices eased as data showed China's crude oil imports declined in May to the lowest daily rate in four months.

Chinese markets eked out modest gains after the release of inflation and trade data. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 3,399.77, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.6 percent to 24,181.43.

China's consumer price inflation dipped 0.1 percent year-on-year in May, while producer deflation deepened to its worst level in almost two years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China's May export growth slowed to a three-month low while imports declined from last year due to weak demand, separate data from the customs office revealed.

Japanese markets rose sharply as the country reported progress in its fifth round of trade talks with the United States and revised data showed the economy contracted slightly less than initially estimated in the first quarter.

The Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.9 percent to 38,088.57. while the broader Topix Index settled 0.6 percent higher at 2,785.41. Chip stocks rallied ahead of U.S.-China talks, with Advantest surging nearly 5 percent.

Seoul stocks led regional gains on investor optimism over the new president's push for shareholder-friendly policies.

The Kospi surged 1.6 percent to 2,855.77, reaching an 11-month high and extending its winning streak for a fourth consecutive session.

Semiconductor and auto shares led the way higher, with Hyundai Motor rallying 4.3 percent and SK Hynix adding 2 percent.

Australian markets were closed for a public holiday. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index ended down 0.2 percent at 12,539.26, giving up early gains.

Europe

European stocks were subdued on Monday as top officials from the U.S. and China meet in London later in the day to resolve their differences and ease rare-earth mineral tensions.

Regional trading volumes remain thin due to holidays in Switzerland, Denmark and Norway.

The German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

UBS Group AG shares were up nearly 4 percent. The bank has mostly accepted regulatory proposals issued by the Swiss government but challenged an increase in capital requirements.

Revolution Beauty shares soared 15 percent. The British cosmetics firm has confirmed that Frasers Group is one of several parties currently conducting due diligence as part of its ongoing formal sale process.

Advertising group WPP fell 1.7 percent after an announcement that Mark Read, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will retire from the Board and as CEO on 31 December 2025.

Pet-care firm Pets At Home rose about 1 percent after launching a £25 million share buyback program.

Alphawave jumped 23 percent after Qualcomm agreed to buy the London-listed semiconductor company for about $2.4 billion in cash.

U.S. Economic News

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of April. Wholesale inventories are expected to come in unchanged in April after climbing by 0.4 percent in March.