Opening Comment — Monday, June 08, 2026
DJIA: 50,866.78, down 695.15
S&P 500: 7,383.74, down 200.57
NASDAQ: 25,709.43, down 1,121.53
Stocks higher to start off week
Stock futures are higher Monday morning amid rising tensions in the Middle East and ahead of this week’s May inflation data, with the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index releases scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 1.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Friday as the strong May jobs report bolstered expectations for Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes. Both nonfarm and manufacturing payrolls for May came in above expectations, increasing by 172,000 and 7,000, respectively. The unemployment rate and labor force participation rate remained steady at 4.3% and 61.8%, respectively. Average hourly earnings increased in line with projections, rising 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) and 3.4% year-over-year (YOY). Meanwhile, consumer credit showed a greater-than-forecasted increase in April, expanding by $20.73 billion compared to the downwardly revised increase of $22.23 billion in March. The Dow was down 1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4.2%. The S&P 500 decreased 2.6% with six of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Consumer Staples sector was the top performer, rising 1.6%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 5.8%.
On the data front, the New York Fed will release their May Survey of Consumer Expectations, with the measure of one-year inflation expectations projected to come in at 3.70% from the prior month’s 3.64%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as German factory orders declined more than forecasted in April, falling 3.8% MOM and recording a smaller-than-expected increase of 1.6% YOY. The Sentix Investor Confidence Index for the eurozone exceeded expectations in June, improving to negative 13.4 from negative 16.4 in May.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were lower as Japan’s current account and trade surplus both contracted on a balance of payments basis in April. The country’s finalized first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was revised down to an annualized 1.8% pace and remained unchanged at 0.5% quarter-over-quarter, while the GDP deflator rose 3.2% YOY, below the preliminary reading.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of this week’s U.S. inflation data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 3.8% higher at $93.96/barrel as markets evaluate this weekend’s strikes between Iran and Israel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.6% lower at $4,301.30/ounce despite a weakening U.S. dollar.