NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street is subdued before the bell Monday on the first day of trading in August after the markets’ best month since November 2020.
Dow Jones Industrials futures were flat and S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% ahead of another slew of business gains this week and the July government jobs report on Friday.
The recovery to end the month came despite mixed business earnings reports and new data showing inflation rose the most in four decades last month.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.9% to end the month up 12.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to post a 6.7% gain for the month. The Russell 2000 rose 0.7% and ended July up 10.4%. The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for many stock funds, rose 1.4% and ended July up 9.1%.
Weak economic data, including a report on Thursday showing the U.S. economy contracted last quarter and may be in recession, have also spurred stocks higher, giving some investors confidence that the Federal Reserve it will be able to slow down its aggressive pace of rate hikes sooner. than expected
The central bank raised its key short-term interest rate by 0.75 percentage points on Wednesday, to the highest level since 2018. The Fed is raising rates to try to slow the US economy and curb inflation .
An inflation gauge closely followed by the Federal Reserve rose 6.8 percent in June from a year ago, the biggest increase in four decades, leaving Americans without relief from rising prices. Month-on-month inflation accelerated to 1% in June from May’s 0.6% monthly increase, the Commerce Department said on Friday.
Inflation in Europe also rose in July, reaching 8.9% in the 19 European countries that use the euro currency.
By midday Monday, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 each gained 0.6 percent, while Paris’ CAC 40 added 0.5 percent.
Shares in Asia ended higher, although the latest manufacturing surveys showed weakening factory activity in Asia’s two largest economies, China and Japan.
China’s manufacturing industry’s recovery from virus shutdowns fell in July as activity sank, a survey showed on Sunday, adding to pressure on the struggling economy in a politically sensitive year in which President Xi Jinping is expected to try to extend his time in power.
Factory activity was depressed by weak global demand and virus controls that are weighing on domestic consumer spending, according to the national statistics agency and an official industry group, the China Federation of Logistics and purchases
“The country was already facing an upward challenge, to put it mildly, to its growth target for this year and the fact that manufacturing activity is slowing down again does not bode well,” he said Oanda’s Craig Erlam in a comment.
A similar survey of purchasing managers, the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI, fell to 52.1 in July from 52.7 in June, the sector’s slowest growth in 10 months, as the energy and labor costs. The survey measures various components on a scale of up to 100, with readings above 50 indicating expansion.
Shares in Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba fell 3.8% in Hong Kong on Monday, helping lower the Hang Seng. The company announced it wants to keep its shares listed in both New York and Hong Kong, days after US regulators included it on a list of companies that may be delisted for failing to comply with audit requirements.
In other trading early Monday, benchmark U.S. crude lost $3.54 to $95.08 a barrel. It jumped $2.20 to $98.62 on Friday. Brent crude, the basis for setting international oil prices, lost $2.81 to $101.16 a barrel.
The US dollar fell to 132.44 Japanese yen from 133.25 yen. The euro rose to $1.0232 from $1.0223.
Boeing shares rose nearly 5 percent in after-hours trading after the aerospace company cleared a key hurdle with federal regulators and could soon resume deliveries of its 787 jetliner, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday. the matter The 787 has been plagued by a series of production issues since late 2020.
Airbnb, Starbucks, CVS Health and DoorDash are among the companies reporting quarterly financial results this week.
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