US Futures Advance, European Bourses Keep Near Records

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Key Takeaways

• Stock futures on Wall Street rose modestly ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell
• European markets pushed near all-time highs on Monday, Stoxx 600 settled less than 1 point from record

US Futures Modestly Up

US stock futures rose modestly in pre-market trading on Tuesday, following a three-day break due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday.

The slightly higher open ahead of regular trading saw Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and Nasdaq futures hover up about 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Futures contracts on the S&P500 advanced around 0.1% as US traders and investors were getting ready to kick into gear on the first trading day of the week.

Futures on the Dow started rising on Monday and gained as much as 100 points, or about 0.3%, before moving slightly lower. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped from an intraday record high on Friday after a lackluster jobs report indicated the expansion of the US economy might be losing steam.

During Friday’s regular market action, the S&P500 ticked lower by 0.03%. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 0.21%. The Dow Jones lost 74.73 points or 0.21%.

The choppy trading session on Friday arrived after the latest non-farm payrolls report showed the US economy grew by 235,000 new jobs in August. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected new hires to top 720,000.

An Intraday High Characterizes Bitcoin’s Performance

Stocks have benefited so far in September despite relatively quiet trading and concerns about a slowdown in the economic recovery. All three major US equity gauges are in positive territory in September, while their annual gains are double digits. The Dow has returned more than 15% year-to-date. The S&P500 is higher by 20%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 19% since January.

As US markets were closed on Monday, the attention was largely on their overseas counterparts. European markets rallied broadly with the pan-continental Stoxx 600 gaining 3.26 points, or 0.69%, to 475.19. The stock benchmark is now less than 1 point from its all-time high hit on Aug. 13.

All major European indexes finished the day strongly in the green as investors interpreted the weak labor-market data as a reason for the Federal Reserve to continue purchasing government debt and mortgage-backed securities at its current pace of $120bn per month.

Later this week, market participants will be on the lookout for comments by New York Federal Reserve President John Williams. Slated to speak on Wednesday, Mr. Williams could provide insights into the Fed’s plans to begin reducing monetary support.

The European Central Bank convenes on Thursday to potentially set out a timeline for reversing its bond purchases under a €1.85tn emergency stimulus program.

In commodity markets, gold pushed above $1,830 following the employment report on Friday. Gold prices eased from their Friday high and settled near $1,820 per troy ounce on Tuesday.

Aluminum forwards spiked to a fresh decade high of $2,776 per metric ton after a military coup in Guinea took place over the weekend. Guinea is the world’s second-biggest producer of raw material bauxite, the world’s primary source of aluminum.

Bitcoin’s strong upside move continued early on Tuesday. The leading cryptocurrency set an intraday high of $53,000 per coin earlier, a price level last seen on May 13. The recent highs for the digital token put it about 18% away from its all-time high of $64,800 set on April 14.