Opening Comment — Tuesday, July 07, 2026
DJIA: 53,055.91, up 155.84
S&P 500: 7,537.43, up 54.19
NASDAQ: 26,121.16, up 288.49
Stocks mixed as chip stocks under pressure
Stock futures are mixed Tuesday morning as chip stocks are once again facing headwinds. Looking ahead, investors will closely monitor today’s May trade deficit data and the release of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes tomorrow together with June’s existing home sales data on Thursday for further clues about the economic outlook and the future path of monetary policy. As of 7:30 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 1.0% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Monday as the Institute for Supply Management’s services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined as expected to 54.0 in June, while the prices paid component eased to 67.7, falling slightly less than anticipated. Meanwhile, S&P Global’s finalized June services and composite PMIs were both revised modestly downward, coming in at 51.2 and 51.9, respectively. The Dow was up 0.3% and reached a new record closing level of 53055.91, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1%. The S&P 500 increased 0.7% with five of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 1.6%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.2%.
On the data front, the U.S. trade deficit is expected to expand in May to $78.4 billion from the prior month’s $55.9 billion, with exports and imports projected to show a decrease of 3.5% and an increase of 2.1% month-over-month (MOM), respectively, versus the prior month’s increases of 2.6% and 2.0% MOM, respectively. The Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York will release their June Survey of Consumer Expectations, including a measure of inflation expectations.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading as Germany’s industrial production rose by a stronger-than-expected 0.9% MOM in May and was little changed on a year-over-year (YOY) basis, defying expectations for a decline. France’s trade deficit widened to €6.93 billion ($7.92 billion) in May, despite downward revisions to the previous month’s deficit.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as Japan’s labor cash earnings rose by a weaker-than-expected 3.2% YOY in May, while household spending fell 0.4% YOY, a smaller decline than anticipated. The Japanese preliminary composite leading index edged up to 116.8 in May from 116.1 in April, marking a smaller-than-expected gain.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S trade deficit data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.1% higher at $69.31/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.7% lower at $4,135.30/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.