Major US stock indices opened higher on Monday, as chip stocks rebounded, while investors are focused on second quarter earnings.
As of 9:35 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up or 0.2%.
Investors are now turning their attention to the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, scheduled for release on Wednesday, for fresh clues on the central bank’s interest rate outlook.
Last week’s economic data pointed to a notable slowdown in US job creation in June. Payroll figures for the previous two months were also revised lower, reinforcing signs that the labour market is gradually losing momentum.
In response to the softer employment data, traders have scaled back expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the near term.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.
There was not “a specific news catalyst accounting for the return to the semiconductor stocks,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
He suggested this was due to investors seeking to cash in on lower prices recently.
Investor sentiments were also boosted as crude oil prices declined amid optimism over US-Iran peace talks, and while markets assess reports that traffic through the key maritime route Strait of Hormuz is improving.
“The fact that oil prices remain under wraps and that interest rates are behaving themselves coming out of the holiday weekend is helping the market start on the right foot this week,” he added.
Key Stock Movers
Shares of chipmakers Broadcom rose 5.7% and Micron Technology climbed 2.8%.
TeraWulf stock jumped 16.9% after the firm said Anthropic agreed to a 20-year deal to use its data center in Kentucky. The deal is expected to be worth roughly $19 billion.
Bullion
Gold prices retreated from two-week highs on Monday, pressured by a firmer US dollar.
By 08:59 a.m ET (1258 GMT), spot gold fell 1% to $4,141.69 per ounce. USgold futures for August delivery climbed 0.7% to $4,154.00 per ounce.
The US dollar gained 0.3%, making the yellow metal more expensive for overseas buyers.
Among other metals, spot silver dropped 1.1% to $61.74 per ounce, platinum fell 1.3% to $1,615.95, and palladium slid 1% to $1,261.50 per ounce.
Crude Oil
Oil prices were little changed on Monday as markets weighed Saudi Arabia’s decision to reduce its official selling prices against OPEC’s agreement to further raise production targets from August.
The muted price action reflected investors’ efforts to assess the impact of lower Saudi crude prices and the prospect of additional supply entering the market following the producer group’s latest output decision.
Brent crude futures fell 4 cents, or 0.06%, to $72.08 a barrel at 1322 GMT after settling 0.45% higher on Friday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.62 a barrel, down 7 cents, or 0.1%.