US pre-open: Futures mixed after Dow's record highs

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the openning bell on Monday after a strong week that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit fresh record highs.

As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down just 0.02%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.42% and 1.01% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 594.83 points higher on Thursday as traders prepared to take a break for the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Market participants continued to reassess recent AI‑driven trades early on Monday morning, with Asia-Pacific markets delivering mixed performances, but American investors now looked set to turn their attention to minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, the first under new chairman Kevin Warsh, due out on Wednesday.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Investors continued to take some risk off the table after an incredibly strong performance throughout April, May and June. But rather than cashing out of equities altogether, traders still seem keen to stay fully invested, as they put their profits to work buying up overlooked 'value', at the expense of growth. This has helped to broaden out the ongoing rally, as there's now less concentration in AI-related tech, as funds are more widely dispersed, to an extent.

"This is viewed as a positive development, especially as the second quarter earnings season approaches. In this, there will be plenty of focus on tech and the 'Magnificent Seven'. The latter struggled throughout June, so any good news once the group starts reporting their numbers could help them recover lost ground. Attention now turns to Wednesday's release of the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes, the first meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh. It's far from clear how helpful these may prove to be, given Mr Warsh's stated aim of wanting less commentary, and therefore less transparency, from the central bank. But it was obvious at last month's meeting that the new Fed chair sees inflation as the prime focus with the labour market taking a back seat."

On Monday's macro slate, S&P Global's composite and services purchasing managers indexes will be published at 1445 BST, while the Institute for Supply Management's June services PMI will follow at 1500 BST.

No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Monday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com