US futures rise after another high on Wall Street: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks are set to hit another all-time high on Tuesday as investors await Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress for clues about the U.S. interest rate outlook.

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S&P 500 futures edged higher after the benchmark closed 0.1% higher in New York, setting its 35th record for the year, as the second-quarter reporting season got underway. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 rose about 0.3%. The dollar hovered around a one-month low, while U.S. Treasury bonds held steady.

Powell is facing pressure from lawmakers growing impatient about rate cuts and from others dissatisfied with the Fed’s latest plan to raise capital requirements for Wall Street lenders. Markets are estimating the likelihood of two rate cuts this year, with a roughly 70% chance of the first in September, according to swap data compiled by Bloomberg.

“With recent signs of weaker growth and a weaker labor market, markets will be closely watching whether Powell provides guidance on the timing of rate cuts,” said Carol Kong, a strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. “Market prices for a September cut could rise and the US dollar could fall further if Powell’s comments are perceived as forgiving.”

Meanwhile, the European benchmark Stoxx 600 index (^STOXX) fell. France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) underperformed as investors remain wary of higher government spending following the left’s resurgence in this weekend’s elections that left a hung parliament.

Among individual stock movers in Europe, BP Plc (BP) fell more than 3% after saying it will take a hit of as much as $2 billion from impairment charges in its second-quarter results. Dassault Systemes SE (DSYP.XD) fell after lowering its full-year earnings forecast.

Japanese stocks led in Asia, while semiconductor-related stocks followed the gains of their US counterparts. Information technology stocks were the biggest contributors to the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s gains. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average (^N225) climbed to a record, extending its gain for the year to more than 24%.

In the commodities sector, oil held steady after losing almost 2% in the previous two sessions, with the worst of the US storm Beryl passing for the crude hub in and around Houston. Gold was little changed after falling the most in two weeks on Monday. Copper edged lower.

The story continues

Main events this week:

• China total financing, money supply, new yuan loans, as of Tuesday

• Jerome Powell delivers semiannual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday

• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday

• The Fed’s Michael Barr and Michelle Bowman will speak on Tuesday

• Chinese PPI, CPI, Wednesday

• Jerome Powell is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday

• The Fed’s Austan Goolsbee, Michelle Bowman and Lisa Cook will speak Wednesday

• US CPI, initial unemployment claims, Thursday

• Raphael Bostic and Alberto Musalem of the Fed will speak on Thursday

• Chinese trade, Friday

• University of Michigan Consumer Confidence, American PPI, Friday

• Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo’s earnings, Friday

Some of the major moves in the markets:

Shares

• The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3% as of 8:08 a.m. London time

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%

• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%

• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6%

• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.3%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.0828

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 160.75 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2878 per dollar

• The British pound was little changed at $1.2811

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 2.2% to $57,490.33

• Ether rose 2.6% to $3,075.35

Bonds

• The yield on ten-year government bonds rose by one basis point to 4.29%

• The German ten-year yield rose by two basis points to 2.56%

• The British ten-year yield rose by two basis points to 4.13%

Raw materials

• Brent crude was little changed

• Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,363.17 an ounce

This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.

—With assistance from Matthew Burgess.

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