U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Monday, taking a breather after a positive week as investors awaited a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, as well as the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium.
At 05:35 (09:35 GMT), Dow Jones futures were down 33 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures fell 9 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 34 points, or 0.1%.
Wall Street’s main indexes posted their second straight positive week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average joining the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite in hitting fresh record highs at some point last week.
Zelensky heads to Washington
Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington on Monday to outline the contours of a potential peace deal.
He is likely to face pressure to accept an agreement, with reports suggesting that a possible deal could involve Ukraine giving up large swathes of its eastern region, including Donetsk and Luhansk, to Russia, while the Kremlin would withdraw from the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Zelensky, who will be joined by leaders from several European countries, has said he supports a “swift and reliable” end to the conflict of more than three years, but stressed that Russia must be willing to end the war “it started.”
Trump said on Sunday that Zelensky could end the war with Russia “almost immediately” by giving in to Moscow’s demands.
Jackson Hole expected for more rate clues
The key economic focus this week is squarely on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday, which is expected to provide further clues on interest rates.
Powell’s remarks come amid growing conviction that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September, especially after weak July payrolls and consumer inflation readings. Investors are pricing in an 83% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in September, according to CME FedWatch.
Solid producer inflation data released last week have virtually ruled out the likelihood of a larger cut.
Walmart, Target to wrap up second-quarter earnings
Several major retailers will release second-quarter results this week, closing out a mostly positive earnings season.
{{7997|Walmart (NYSE:WMT)}} and {{8180|Target (NYSE:TGT)}} will be the most closely watched, with other big retailers such as {{8064|Home Depot (NYSE:HD)}}, Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW), and {{8227|TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX)}} also on the agenda.
The results will provide further insight into the U.S. consumer, amid concerns that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could weigh on household spending.
Roughly 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported June-quarter earnings so far, with 81% of those reporting posting stronger-than-expected results, according to FactSet (NYSE:FDS) data.
Other major companies reporting this week include Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY), {{941155|Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)}}, {{6378|Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU)}}, {{41268|Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW)}}, and {{7869|Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI)}}.
Oil ticks higher
Oil prices rose on Monday, rebounding from last week’s losses as concerns over Russian supply eased following last week’s meeting between Trump and Putin.
At 05:35, Brent futures gained 0.6% to $66.24 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 0.8% to $62.46 a barrel.
Both contracts fell nearly 1.5% on Friday and ended the week sharply lower before the U.S.–Russia meeting concluded.
Trump decided not to apply further pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine by imposing measures to disrupt its oil exports after his meeting with Putin on Friday.
Source: Investing.com
