Stock futures were steady on Monday, with Wall Street aiming for more record highs, but traders are growing cautious about whether a President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin summit will ease the war in Ukraine.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose 0.2%, while futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) and those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) hovered above the flatline.
Wall Street is coming off a week that saw the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) notch two consecutive records at its end. The S&P 500 (^GSPC), meanwhile, just missed a record close on Friday.
Tech stocks overperformed as Apple (AAPL) posted its best week since 2020 on the heels of its White House spotlight with President Trump. Nvidia (NVDA) also closed Friday at a fresh record amid signals from Trump that Big Tech companies could avoid looming chip tariffs.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Trump claimed that his tariffs are having a “huge positive impact on the stock market,” though Wall Street is still navigating the twists and turns in his trade policy. His sweeping duties on dozens of trade partners went into effect last week. Now, investors are turning their attention to his previewed sectoral duties on semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports, as well as a looming Tuesday deadline to extend a tariff pause with China.
Wall Street will get another glimpse this week into how those tariffs are affecting price pressures in the US. The Consumer Price Index is set for release on Tuesday, followed by the Producer Price Index on Thursday and retail sales data on Friday. Inflation reaccelerated in June, and economists have warned that the tariffs will likely continue to seep into price data in the coming months.
Meanwhile, gold futures (GC=F) fell in New York on Monday as traders waited for clarification from the White House over its tariff policy, after a US government agency ruled that 100-ounce and one-kilogram bullion bars would be subject to tariffs.
Read more: Live coverage of earnings season
The inflation data will be closely watched by the Fed, which is in focus after Trump nominated ally Stephen Miran to a seat on the central bank’s board. Investors are pricing in around a 90% chance the Fed cuts rates in September, and a plurality have priced in the equivalent of three cuts by the end of the year.
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