Opening Comment — Monday, August 04, 2025
DJIA: 43,588.58, down 542.40
S&P 500: 6,238.01, down 101.38
NASDAQ: 20,650.13, down 472.32
Stocks higher ahead of factory orders
Stock futures are higher Monday morning ahead of today’s June factory orders and finalized durable goods orders. Investors are awaiting any updates on trade deals and tariffs, along with tomorrow’s June trade balance and July’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.7% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Friday as July’s nonfarm payrolls rose less than forecasted and the prior two months of gains were downwardly revised by a cumulative 258,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% while the labor force participation rate ticked down to 62.2%. The ISM manufacturing PMI for July fell further into contractionary territory and the prices paid component unexpectedly declined. The Dow was down 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%. The S&P 500 decreased 1.6% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Health Care sector was the top performer, rising 0.6%, while the Consumer Discretionary sector was the bottom performer, falling 3.6%.
On the data front, June’s factory orders are expected to have decreased 4.8% month-over-month (MOM) versus the prior month’s increase of 8.2%. Meanwhile, June’s finalized durable goods orders are expected to show a 9.3% MOM decrease, unchanged from the prior reading.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as the Sentix Investor Confidence Index for the Eurozone saw a sharp decline in August, dropping to negative 3.7 from 4.5 in July.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Australia’s Melbourne Institute inflation gauge recorded an increase of 0.9% MOM and 2.9% year-over-year (YOY) in July. Japan's monetary base decreased 3.9% YOY, compared to the prior month’s decrease of 3.5%
In FOREX trading, the dollar is lower ahead of tomorrow’s U.S. PMI data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.8% lower at $66.12/barrel following the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies announcing a major increase in oil production.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.4% higher at $3,360.60/ounce following a weakening dollar.