U.S. Stocks May Experience Choppy Trading Early On

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. Index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Monday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the modest pullback seen last Friday.

Technology stocks may see some strength after a report from Bloomberg said Anthropic is telling prospective investors its second quarter revenue jumped at least 14-fold versus the same period a year ago.

According to documents seen by Bloomberg, the Claude chatbot maker reported preliminary revenue of more than $11.5 billion in the second quarter compared to $787 million in the same period in 2025.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders express some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets.

While recent economic data has eased concerns about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates next month, crude oil prices remain at elevated levels amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.

U.S. crude oil futures are climbing 0.7 percent to $83 a barrel after President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman during an interview with Fox News.

Trump's threat comes as Iran and Oman appear to be moving closer to an understanding over the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Stocks moved modestly lower during trading on Friday, giving back ground after moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions. Selling pressure remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the major averages.

The major averages all finished the day in negative territory. The Dow dipped 107.58 points or 0.2 percent to 53,732.41, the Nasdaq fell 73.86 points or 0.3 percent to 26,729.16 and the S&P 500 slipped 13.23 points or 0.2 percent to 7,785.76.

For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. While the Dow slid by 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq crept up by 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose by 0.4 percent.

The modest pullback on Wall Street may partly have reflected profit taking following the upward move seen over the two previous sessions, which lifted the S&P 500 to a record intraday high above 7,800 during Thursday's session.

The broad market index also ended Thursday's trading at a record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached its highest closing level in over two months.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the University of Michigan showing a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of August.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index tumbled to 51.0 in August after surging to 55.2 in July, while economists had expected the index to dip to 54.2.

Earlier in the day, a report released by the Commerce Department showed an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales in the month of July.

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.6 percent in July after rising by 0.2 percent in June. Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.1 percent.

The unexpected decrease in retail sales marked the first drop since retail sales dipped by 0.2 percent in October 2025.

While the data has further eased concerns about the potential for an increase in interest rates, traders may be becoming increasingly worried about the outlook for the economy amid persistently high crude oil prices.

A notable rebound by crude oil prices also weighed on Wall Street, as Trump administration officials indicated they plan to use economic measures to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns about a prolonged stalemate.

Despite the modest pullback by the broader markets, oil service stocks saw substantial strength, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.6 percent to its best closing level in well over two months.

Gold stocks also moved sharply higher amid an uptick by the price of the precious metal, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, while airline, software and pharmaceutical stocks showed notable moves to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.35 to $82.75 a barrel after jumping $1.15 to $82.40 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after climbing $16.90 to $4,437.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $6.70 to $4,444 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.26 yen versus the 159.30 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1591 compared to last Friday's $1.1569.

Asia

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as weak U.S. economic data raised the risk of slowing growth when inflation is still high.

The U.S. dollar was under pressure in Asian trading, while gold held firm above $4,400 an ounce as traders reduced bets for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

Oil prices remained elevated as renewed fighting in Lebanon and further tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz clouded prospects for ending the U.S.-Iran war.

Brent crude futures fell slightly to $88.14 a barrel after climbing 6 percent last week. Investors braced for further supply disruptions despite Iran and Oman appearing to be moving closer to an understanding over the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following attacks on tankers, only five commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday while none registered for Sunday, versus 31 in the prior weekend, according to ship tracking data from Kpler.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.4 percent to 3,982.65 ahead of key July activity data released later in the day.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.3 percent to 25,453.23 even as a slew of weak data reinforced concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese consumer spending stalled in July, urban investment contracted at a faster pace and unemployment ticked higher, adding to pressure on Beijing to step up its policy response in the second half of the year.

Japanese markets advanced while the dollar-yen pair showed resilience as Japan's 10-year bond yield hit a three-decade high, approaching the closely watched 3 percent level on inflation concerns and expectations of an interest rate hike next month.

Investors shrugged off data that showed Japan's economy expanded just 1.1 percent annualized in the second quarter of 2026, missing forecasts due to lackluster household spending and business investment.

The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.7 percent to 69,220.25 while the broader Topix Index settled 0.3 percent lower at 4,184.11.

South Korean markets were closed for the Liberation Day holiday.

Australian markets ended lower after disappointing earnings updates from the likes of NAB and JB Hi Fi. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.5 percent to 9,073.20, extending losses for a fourth consecutive session to reach a two-week low.

The broader All Ordinaries Index ended 0.4 percent lower at 9,279. National Australia Bank shares slumped 4.6 percent after the lender flagged a slowdown in home loan applications. JB Hi Fi plummeted 12.3 percent as the consumer electronics retailer warned of weaker trading at the start of fiscal 2027.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index slumped 1 percent to 13,721.98, closing near a four-week low after data showed services activity in the country stayed flat in July, signaling fragile growth.

A2 Milk shares plunged 5.7 percent after the company reported a 44 percent decrease in its full-year profits.

Europe

European stocks have moved modestly lower on Monday as a slew of Chinese data reinforced concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese consumer spending stalled in July, urban investment contracted at a faster pace and unemployment ticked higher, adding to pressure on Beijing to step up its policy response in the second half of the year.

Investors also weighed stalled efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war. Brent crude futures held steady around $89 a barrel as renewed fighting in Lebanon and further tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz clouded prospects for ending the U.S.-Iran war.

While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American have moved to the upside as the U.S. dollar slipped towards two-month lows following softer U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment data released on Friday.

In corporate news, HIAG Immobilien Holding shares have risen after the Swiss real estate company reported a sharp rise in first-half profit.

AstraZeneca has also jumped. The British drug major announced positive results from SAFFRON Phase III trial.

Meanwhile, Optima Health, a provider of workplace and health and wellbeing services, has slumped after reporting a sharp rise in debt in its full-year results.

U.S. Economic News

New York manufacturing activity grew strongly in the month of August, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions index climbed to 20.6 in August from 15.6 in July, with a positive reading indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to fall to 11.0.

With the unexpected increase, the New York Fed's general business conditions index reached its highest level since hitting 34.4 in December 2021.

Looking ahead, the New York Fed said firms maintained an optimistic outlook for business activity, with the index for future business conditions rising to 32.1 in August from 27.9 in July.

At 10 am ET, 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 edge down to 33 in August from 34 in July.