Stock Market Today: US Stocks Likely To Open Higher Despite Weak Jobs Report—Palantir, Vertex Pharma In Focus

U.S. stock futures are up on Monday after ending Friday deep in the red, following a disappointing jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President Donald Trump ordered the dismissal of Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on Friday, after accusing her of manipulating employment data for political purposes.

The jobs report came just days after the U.S. economy notched a significantly better-than-expected 3% GDP growth during the second quarter, marking a strong rebound from a 0.5% contraction the prior quarter. It also came just a day after the Fed decided to hold rates steady during its July FOMC meeting.

Heading into the new week, investors will be closely watching several macro indicators, ranging from factory orders and U.S. trade deficit data to initial jobless claims and wholesale reports.

Additionally, earnings reports from Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, Novo Nordisk A/S NVO, and Eli Lilly And Co. LLY are expected to set the tone for the markets this week.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.251% and the two-year bond was at 3.727%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 79.7% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to the 4.00% to 4.25% range, from the current 4.25% to 4.50%.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500, and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, were both up 0.59% and 0.71% in pre-market trade, respectively, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

On Friday, technology, consumer discretionary, energy, and financials led the decline among S&P 500 sectors, with healthcare, consumer staples and utilities bucking the decline.

The markets closed the week in the red, following a string of headwinds, starting with Trump’s fresh tariff blitz, alongside an unsavory jobs report, hurting sentiments.

All three major indices declined during the week, with the 30-stock Dow down 3.02%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq declining 2.49% and the broad S&P 500 index down 2.50%.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. AMZN dropped 8.24% on Friday, following its second-quarter results despite beating consensus estimates, owing to a slowdown in momentum in its AWS cloud computing segment.

The U.S. employment report was released on Friday, reporting payroll growth of 73,000 in July, significantly below consensus estimates at 110,000. The report further revised its figures for May and June, from 144,000 and 147,000, to just 19,000 and 14,000, respectively.

The Dow Jones index ended 542 points or 1.23% lower at 43,588.58, while the S&P 500 index was down 1.60% to 6,238.01. Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.24% to 20,650.13, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, declined 2.03% to end at 2,166.78.

Insights From Analysts:

Chartered Market Technician and Chief Market Strategist at the Carson Group, Ryan Detrick, notes that after Friday’s decline, the S&P 500 has finally closed below the 20-day MA (moving average) after “an incredible streak of 68 days.”

According to Detrick, there were 8 other times when the index made it past the 60-day mark, and of those, the index was higher a year later in 7 of those times, and posted double-digit growth in 4.

Upcoming Economic Data:

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on this week,

• On Monday, June's factory orders data will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• On Tuesday, June's U.S. trade deficit data will be out by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• July's final S&P U.S. services PMI will be released at 9:45 a.m., followed by the ISM services index at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Boston Fed President Susan Collins will participate in a panel discussion at 2:00 p.m. ET.
• On Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week ended August 2, second-quarter U.S. productivity, and unit labor costs will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• June's wholesale inventories and a speech by Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET.
• June's consumer credit data will be out by 3:00 p.m. ET.
• No economic data is scheduled to be released on Friday.
• On Saturday, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will deliver a speech at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR shares are up 2.15% pre-market as investors eagerly await the company’s second-quarter earnings release after markets close on Monday.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. VRTX is flat pre-market, ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings after markets close.
• Williams Companies Inc. WMB is up 1.24% pre-market, with the energy giant set to announce its second-quarter results after markets close.
• Axon Enterprise Inc. AXON is up 1.82% in pre-market, as the company is expected to release its second-quarter results after markets close.
• Simon Property Group Inc. SPG, which owns and operates shopping malls across the United States, is up 1.10% pre-market, with the company set to announce its second-quarter results after markets close.
• OneOK Inc. OKE, an Oklahoma-based energy company, is up 0.10% pre-market, ahead of its second-quarter earnings results, after markets close.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures are trading lower in the early New York session, by 1.07%, hovering around 66.61 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar is down 0.14%, trading at $3,359.2 per ounce, down from its all-time high of $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) trades at 98.82301 against a basket of currencies, down 0.32% during the day.

Asian markets are up on Monday, barring Japan’s Nikkei 225. South Korea’s Kospi, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, China’s CSI 300 and Australia’s ASX 200 all kicked off the week on a high note. Most European markets have opened higher in early trade.

Read Next:

• Moody’s Chief Economist Warns US Economy On ‘Precipice Of Recession’ As Tariffs, Labor Shortages Trigger Market Selloff

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