Futures Pointing To Continued Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open on Monday, with stocks likely to extend the upward trend seen over the past several sessions.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes amid news the U.S. and the European Union struck a last-minute trade agreement and reports suggested the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days.

The U.S.-EU agreement includes a 15 percent tariff on European goods, down from the 30 percent originally proposed.

The EU has also committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and investing $600 billion more into the American economy as part of the agreement.

However, overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later this week.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the announcement could impact the outlook for rates.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus in the coming days along with earnings news from Magnificent Seven members Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).

The major U.S. stock markets put together a solid performance on the final day of the trading week, which saw the Dow reverse losses from the previous session and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit fresh record closing highs.

The markets opened slightly to the upside on Friday and continued to tick higher as the day progressed.

The Dow climbed 208.01 points or 0.5 percent to finish at 44,901.92, while the Nasdaq gained 50.36 points or 0.2 percent to close at 21,108.32 and the S&P 500 improved 25.29 points or 0.4 percent to end at 6,388.64.

The strength on Wall Street came on optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline for the extension of his "reciprocal tariffs."

With only a few days left, several trading partners are trying to reach an agreement with the U.S. to avoid high tariff imposition on their exports to the U.S. from August 1.

European markets were less optimistic as stocks were weighed down by concerns about the progress of the trade negotiations, as well as some disappointing earnings updates. Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $1.20 to $66.36 a barrel after falling $0.87 to $65.16 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $37.90 to $3,335.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $7 to $3,328.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.13 yen versus the 147.69 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1659 compared to last Friday's $1.1742.

Asia

Asian shares rose broadly on Monday, although Japanese markets fell sharply due to profit taking after last week's rally.

Underlying sentiment remained supported somewhat as the EU and the U.S. struck a last-minute trade agreement and reports suggested the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days.

The EU-U.S. agreement includes a 15 percent tariff on EU goods, down from the 30 percent originally proposed.

The EU has committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and investing $600 billion more into the American economy as part of the agreement.

The dollar index held near a one-week high ahead of a busy week for markets, with key data releases, the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision and earnings reports from major tech companies awaited.

Magnificent Seven members Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. are all due to report their numbers this week.

Gold held steady near $3,340 per ounce in Asian trading, while oil prices climbed on optimism that the U.S.-EU trade deal could boost economic activity and lift energy demand.

China's Shanghai Composite Index edged up by 0.1 percent to 3,597.94 ahead of U.S.-China talks in Stockholm to resolve trade tensions and extend the truce before it expires on August 12.

Investors shrugged off data that showed China's industrial earnings fell for a second straight month in June.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent to 25,562.13 as concerns about a potentially painful trade war eased.

Japanese markets fell sharply as investors looked ahead to the Bank of Japan's rate decision on Thursday for hints about the near-term rate outlook.

Traders also shifted their focus to domestic corporate earnings and pondered the implications of the U.S.-Japan trade deal.

The Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 1.1 percent to 40,998.27, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.7 percent lower at 2,930.73.

Chip-related shares paced the decliners, with Advantest and Screen Holdings plummeting 9-10 percent. Robot maker Fanuc soared 5 percent after its quarterly operating profit jumped nearly 30 percent.

Seoul stocks ended higher for a fourth day running, with the Kospi rising 0.4 percent to 3,209.52.

Samsung Electronics surged 6.8 percent after announcing a $16.5 billion chip supply deal with U.S. tech giant Tesla.

Australian markets eked out modest gains, led by banks as falling iron ore and copper prices weighed on the mining sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 percent to 8,697.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 0.3 percent higher at 8,963.50.

Boss Energy shares plummeted 44 percent after the company flagged operational challenges at its flagship Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index ended 0.5 percent higher at 12,910.74, extending gains for a third straight session.

Europe

European stocks have turned mixed on Monday after moving higher early in the session after the U.S. and the European Union agreed on a hard-fought deal, helping avert a potentially damaging trade war.

Investors also looked ahead to a busy week, with key U.S. data releases, the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and earnings reports from major tech companies awaited.

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

Tech shares advanced, with ASML Holding NV surging nearly 5 percent.

Dutch brewer Heineken Holding tumbled 4 percent despite first-half profit coming ahead of expectations.

France's Pernod Ricard dropped 1.4 percent and Anheuser-Busch inBev, the maker of Budweiser beer, was down 1.2 percent.

German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex jumped 5 percent.

The company said it has secured 2.3 gigawatts of new projects in the second quarter of 2025, up 81.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

U.K. retailer Tesco fell over 1 percent after providing an update on its share buyback program.

U.S. Economic News

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auctions of $69 billion worth of two-year notes and $70 billion worth of five-year notes at 11 am ET and 1 pm ET, respectively.