Futures Pointing To Modestly Lower Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open on Monday, with stocks likely to move to the downside following back-to-back positive weeks.

Traders may look to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reach new record highs.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to a meeting between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders later today.

The meeting at the White House comes after Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday in Alaska yielded in some progress but failed to result in a concrete agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump claimed Zelenskyy has the power to "with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to."

Traders also looking ahead to comments from central bank officials at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium later this week along with earnings news from big-name retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD).

Following the lackluster performance seen in Thursday's previous session, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 moved to the downside, although the narrower Dow managed to post a modest gain.

While the Dow inched up 34.86 points or 0.1 percent to 44,946.12, the S&P 500 fell 18.74 points or 0.3 percent to 6,449.80 and the Nasdaq slid 87.69 points or 0.4 percent to 21,622.98.

Despite the lower close on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 advanced by 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, for the week. The Dow also posted a strong weekly gain of 1.7 percent.

The weakness in the broader markets came following the release of mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and interest rates.

While the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales increased in line with economist estimates in July, the University of Michigan released a separate report showing an unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment in August.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.5 percent in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in June.

Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in July after growing by 0.8 percent in June. The increase in ex-auto sales also matched expectations.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 58.6 in August from 61.7 in July. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 62.0.

On the inflation front, year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.9 percent in August from 4.5 in July, reflecting increases across multiple demographic groups and all three political affiliations.

Long-run inflation expectations also surged to 3.9 percent in August from 3.4 percent in July, rebounding following three straight months of decreases.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of July, while the Federal Reserve released a report showing a slight pullback by industrial production in July.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 2.3 percent.

Considerable weakness was also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent slump by the KBW Bank Index.

Oil service and steel stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks showed strong moves to the upside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.23 to $63.03 a barrel after tumbling $1.16 to $62.80 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after edging down $0.60 to $3,382.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $9.90 to $3,392.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.76 yen versus the 147.19 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1670 compared to last Friday's $1.1703.

Asia

Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday as investors reacted to ongoing U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine and looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming Jackson Hole speech for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates next month.

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Putin in Alaska yielded no concrete agreements, but Russia agreed to "game-changing" security guarantees for Ukraine, helping inject new momentum into stalled efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The leaders of the U.K., France and Germany will accompany Ukraine's president for talks with Trump at the White House today in a bid to come to a negotiated settlement in the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict.

China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.9 percent to 3,728.03, rallying to a 10-year high on strong institutional and retail buying amid hopes that a swift resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict will help remove U.S. scrutiny of Beijing's purchases of Russian oil.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended down 0.4 percent at 25,176.85, reversing early gains as property and technology stocks lagged ahead of this week's loan prime rate decision by China's central bank.

Japanese markets hit a new record high ahead of inflation data due this week that could provide further guidance on whether the Bank of Japan will hike rates again this year.

The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.8 percent to 43,714.31 after the government said the U.S. is not pressuring the Bank of Japan for rate hikes.

The broader Topix Index settled 0.4 percent higher at 3,120.96. A weaker yen lifted auto stocks, with Honda, Toyota and Nissan rising 2-3 percent.

Fast Retailing, the operator of fashion giant Uniqlo, rose 1.3 percent, and chip-testing equipment maker Advantest added 1.5 percent.

Seoul stocks fell sharply amid uncertainties over Trump's potential tariff measures on semiconductors. The Kospi ended down 1.5 percent at 3,177.28, snapping a two-day winning streak. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.2 percent and peer SK Hynix lost 3.3 percent.

Australian markets eked out modest gains, with the potential upside capped by losses by heavyweight mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.2 percent to 8,959.30 after hitting a record high last week. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.2 percent at 9,233.50.

National Australia Bank rallied 2.7 percent despite the lender warning of higher annual operating costs due to continued payroll problems. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.2 percent and Westpac gained 0.7 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.6 percent to 12,970.64 on improved services sector activity data for July.

Europe

European stocks were subdued on Monday, while the U.S. dollar wobbled after the Trump-Putin summit ended without a breakthrough on halting the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and several European leaders will join U.S. President Donald Trump for a meeting at the White House later today to exchange views on the status of peace efforts, security guarantees, territorial issues, and further support for Ukraine.

While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

Sectra shares have moved to the upside. The Swedish medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company has signed a pact to offer its cloud-based Sectra One Cloud solution to six ENHANCE Ontario hospitals.

France's Valneva has also surged after Health Canada granted marketing authorization for its single-dose chikungunya vaccine, IXCHIQ, for individuals aged 12 years and older.

Novo Nordisk has also jumped. The Danish drug maker got U.S. FDA approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition.

Vestas Wind Systems has also soared after the U.S. published better-than-expected guidelines on which projects will qualify for wind and solar tax credits.

U.S. Economic News

The National Association of Home Builders is scheduled to release its report on homebuilder confidence in the month of August. The housing market index is expected to come in unchanged in August after inching up to 33 in July.