U.S. Stocks May Regain Ground In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks are likely to move to the upside in early trading on Monday, regaining ground following the sharp pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.6 percent.

Traders may look to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent sell-off, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pull back well off their record highs.

The steep drop seen last Friday came amid concerns about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs, weaker than expected jobs data and a slump by shares of Amazon (AMZN).

Optimism the weak jobs data will lead the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next month may also generate some buying interest.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the chances of a quarter point rate cut in September have jumped to 85.4 percent from 63.1 percent a week ago.

Not long after the start of trading, the Commerce Department is scheduled to releases its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of June. Factory orders are expected to plunge by 5.0 percent in June after spiking by 8.2 percent in May.

Following the downturn seen over the course of Thursday's session, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Friday. The major averages all moved sharply lower, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back well off Thursday's record intraday highs.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 472.32 points or 2.2 percent to 47,231.61, the S&P 500 tumbled 101.38 points or 1.6 percent to 6,238.01 and the Dow slumped 542.40 points or 1.2 percent to 43,588.58.

For the week, the Dow plummeted by 2.9 percent, while the S&P 500 the Nasdaq dove by 2.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday. China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.9 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and slumped by 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $1.50 to $65.83 a barrel after tumbling $1.93 to $67.33 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after surging $51.20 to $3,399.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $15.50 to $3,415.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.11 yen versus the 147.40 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1584 compared to last Friday's $1.1587.