Updated 2 min read
US stock futures rose on Monday as investors set their sights on inflation data later this week to provide a reality check on the chances of a jumbo interest-rate cut in September.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) ticked up roughly 0.2%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) moved up 0.3%. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were slightly more upbeat, trading 0.4% higher, after stocks finished last week on a down note.
Political drama is grabbing attention in the runup to the first full trading week in the historically slowest month of the year. In Europe, France’s government is on the brink of collapse with its prime minister, Francois Bayrou, expected to lose a parliamentary vote of confidence later in the day. Japan has already lost its prime minister after Shigeru Ishiba resigned on Sunday.
The moves pushed two key economies into higher uncertainty as President Trump’s tariffs shake up the global trade environment.
Wall Street is already looking ahead to key inflation reports later this week: the producer price index (PPI) on Wednesday and the consumer price index (CPI) on Thursday. Together, the data will offer fresh insight into the strength of the economy after last week’s softer-than-expected August jobs print, as questions about recession start to emerge.
Given that, the reports will test markets’ total conviction that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates at its meeting next week. The debate now centers on how deep policymakers will cut, amid rising expectations for a bumper “catch-up” move of 50 basis points, rather than 25 basis points.
Otherwise, this week’s economic calendar is light, though the Bureau of Labor revision to earlier months’ jobs data on Tuesday will likely be more closely watched than usual.
In the meantime, political drama is grabbing attention in the runup to the first full trading week in the historically slowest month of the year. In Europe, France’s government is on the brink of collapse with its prime minister, Francois Bayrou, expected to lose a parliamentary vote of confidence later in the day. Japan has already lost its prime minister after Shigeru Ishiba resigned on Sunday.
The moves pushed two key economies into higher uncertainty as President Trump’s tariffs shake up the global trade environment.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US would be forced to give rebates to trading partners if the Supreme Court fails to uphold Trump’s tariffs. An appeals court found most of them to be illegal and the president had overstepped his authority.
