Wall Street futures opened positively on Sunday evening following a volatile week that saw chip stocks being whipsawed and culminating in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reporting five straight days of losses. According to reports from CNBC TV18, Dow futures are trading with gains of close to 140 points, while S&P 500 futures are up 35 points and Nasdaq futures are up 200 points in trading on Sunday local time. The positive momentum continued into Wednesday trading, with DJIA rising 0.14% to 51,920.62 and Nasdaq climbing 0.2% as reported by Morningstar. As per Investing.com, the market response suggests investors are still trading the belief that peace, however ragged and unreliable, remains on the table between the US and Iran despite recent tensions.
Futures are witnessing a positive reaction after Axios reported that the US and Iran have agreed to stop attacking each other after trading blows over the weekend. However, as reported by CNBC TV18, none of the other media outlets have independently confirmed the Axios report yet. According to a Pakistani official who spoke to MS NOW, the talks have been put on hold for now, although both parties have maintained their representatives in the US to resume talks once given the go ahead. A Trump administration official though, denied the report of talks being put on hold, stating that the talks are on track to implement the MoU signed in the coming days. As per Investing.com, the US military response to the tanker drone attack was minor, more a reminder that Washington can still reach over the fence and hurt Tehran than an attempt to tear down the entire ceasefire framework. This limited response has kept Brent trading around $73 rather than sprinting toward levels that would begin to choke consumers.
This will be a truncated week as the markets will remain shut on Friday, July 3, on account of the Independence Day holiday, as reported by CNBC TV18. Since Friday will be a holiday, the all important US jobs report or the non-farm payrolls will be released a day earlier, on Thursday, July 2. Along with the jobs report, initial jobless claims for the week, factory orders data will also be released on Thursday. The start of the month will also mean auto companies will begin to report their sales figures for the month, with those figures being reported across Wednesday, July 1, and Thursday, July 2. As per Investing.com, July starts with a powerful flow backdrop, but those flows remain heavily concentrated in mega-cap technology and semiconductors.
According to CNBC TV18, the start of the month also means other important macro data will be reported, such as the JOLTS job openings on Tuesday, June 30, ADP private payroll figures on Wednesday, July 1, and the manufacturing PMI on Wednesday as well. These comprehensive economic releases will provide crucial insights into the current employment and manufacturing conditions across the US economy. As per Investing.com, the top 100 US pension funds are now roughly 110% funded, their strongest position since 2001, which changes the behavior of very large, very patient pools of capital and may produce quarter-end mechanical waves of equity selling and fixed-income buying.
All eyes will be on the new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, as he makes his first public appearance after the latest Fed policy at the annual European Central Bank symposium in Portugal, as reported by CNBC TV18. Along with his remarks on monetary policy, Warsh will also be in the spotlight as he appears after his predecessor Jerome Powell was given a standing ovation at the same event last year for enduring attacks from US President Donald Trump. As per Investing.com, ETFs now account for around 31% of average daily trading volume, well above the long-term norm, with more than $1 trillion already flowed into ETFs year to date, roughly 45% ahead of last year's record pace.
