By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open mixed Monday, consolidating after Friday’s sharp losses amid caution as Covid-19 cases mount worldwide. Volumes are likely to be limited given the holiday-shortened week and with key economic releases and verbal interventions from Federal Reserve speakers due.
At 07:05 AM ET (1105 GMT), S&P 500 Futures traded 5 points, or 0.2%, higher, Nasdaq Futures down 23 points, or 0.2%. The Dow Futures contract rose 91 points, or 0.4%.
The major indices all lost around 2.5% on Friday, and the month of June has seen a period of consolidation after the strong gains since the March lows. The S&P 500 and the DJIA are on course to post losses, but the Nasdaq is still set to have a positive month.
Dragging on sentiment has been the resurgence of coronavirus cases globally. The World Health Organization reported almost 190,000 new cases for the 24-hour period through early Sunday, a new high. This means the total number of global Covid-19 cases has now topped the 10 million mark, with more than 500,000 deaths recorded globally.
The U.S. has recorded over a quarter of these cases, with a number of populous states such as Texas and Florida having to re-impose some - but by no means all - restrictions.
Still, the last two days have seen the number of news cases falling, and mortality rates are much lower than during the first wave of the pandemic, mainly because the new infections have been largely confined to younger people.
With this in mind, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday about the economic stimulus unleashed in response to the virus.
The Fed will also publish the minutes of its June rate-setting meeting on Wednesday.
Economic data are thin on the ground Monday, with pending home sales the only release of note. However, the week will also see the key nonfarm payrolls release on Thursday, a day earlier than usual due to Friday’s U.S. holiday, with economists forecasting an additional three million jobs in June after a shock 2.5 million gain a month earlier.
In corporate news, Boeing (NYSE:BA) will be in focus after the aircraft manufacturer set for a crucial flight test Monday to see if its 737 Max jet can take to the skies again. The 737 Max had been Boeing’s best-selling plane but was grounded last year after two crashes together killed all 346 people on board.
Oil prices have stabilized Monday, after earlier losses as an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases threatened to curtail the recovery in oil demand. The recovery in prices since March has come too late to save shale gas pioneer Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend.
At 07:05 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $38.64 a barrel. The international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.3% to $41.05.
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,785.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1280, up 0.6%.