A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, United States, June 30, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures have been flat in trading overnight as Wall Street prepares to kick off the shortened holiday week with the S&P 500 at an all time high.
Futures contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose only 30 points. S&P 500 futures were little changed, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell less than 0.1%. US markets remained closed for the July 4th holiday.
West Texas Intermediate crude topped $ 76 a barrel as a key meeting between the OPEC oil producer group and its partners on crude production policy was called off. The postponement came as the UAE rejected a proposal to extend the increase in oil production for a second day.
The S&P 500 is coming off a seven-day winning streak, the longest since August, amid a string of strong economic reports, including a better-than-expected jobs report on Friday. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite also hit an all-time high in the previous session.
The economy created 850,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an addition of 706,000.
Still, many on Wall Street expect weaker, more choppy gains from the rest of the year after a strong first-half performance against a backdrop of historic economic reopening. The S&P 500 is up nearly 16% year-to-date.
“The US economy is booming, but it is now a known fact and asset markets reflect it. What is no longer so clear is at what price this growth will add up,” he said. said Michael Wilson, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley. a note.
“Higher costs mean lower profits, another reason the overall stock market has shrunk… the stock markets are expected to take a break this summer as things heat up,” Wilson said.
Wall Street’s year-end consensus target for the S&P 500 is 4,276, which is almost 2% loss from Friday’s close of 4,352.34, according to the CNBC Market Strategist Survey which brings together the forecasts of the 16 best strategists.
Investors are awaiting the release of the minutes of the June Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday for clues to the central bank‘s behind-the-scenes discussions on winding up its quantitative easing program.
