Wall Street was set for a higher open on Monday, buoyed by optimism over potential trade breakthroughs and the start of a highly anticipated earnings week for technology giants that could define the market’s next direction.
S&P 500 E-minis gained 13.75 points, or 0.22%, at 8:23 a.m. ET, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis climbed 52.25 points, or 0.22%, hovering close to last week’s record highs. Dow E-minis also advanced, adding 98 points, or 0.22%, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Despite the looming August 1 tariff deadline imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, investors remained upbeat, encouraged by remarks from U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who expressed confidence on Sunday in achieving a trade agreement with the European Union.
However, EU diplomats signaled a more guarded outlook, revealing that the 27-member bloc is preparing a broader set of retaliatory measures as prospects for a breakthrough deal with Washington fade. These developments follow Trump’s threat to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU, alongside letters to other trade partners, including Canada, Japan, and Brazil— proposing blanket tariffs between 20% and 50%.
Even with mounting trade tensions, Wall Street indices have shown resilience. Both the S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) hit new record highs last week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains just 1.64% below its all-time peak.
Investors are laser-focused on the upcoming results of Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O), which will kick off the much-anticipated “Magnificent Seven” earnings parade. Their performance is expected to set the tone for the broader market.
In premarket trading, Tesla and Alphabet shares were up 1.6% and 0.8%, respectively.
“There’s still a ton of trade uncertainty, and so I think the focus on earnings has given investors some things to be excited about,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.
“There’s a lot of optimism around those big tech earnings and AI demand that should continue to help indexes.”
Corporate highlights
– Verizon (VZ.N) rose 4.6% after lifting its annual profit forecast.
– Domino’s Pizza (DPZ.O) surged 3.6% as its Q2 U.S. same-store sales beat Wall Street expectations.
– Ethereum-related stocks, including Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Gamesquare Holdings (GAME.O), BTCS (BTCS.O), and Sharplink Gaming (SBET.O), advanced 2.2% to 8.5%, as ether traded near its year-to-date high following Trump’s approval of a stablecoin regulation bill.
The week is light on economic data, with weekly jobless claims and the July business activity report due Thursday. Investors are also awaiting comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday for clues on monetary policy after last week’s mixed inflation readings.
Markets have largely dismissed the chance of a July rate cut, but according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the probability of a September rate reduction stands at around 60%.