Opening Comment — Monday, July 27, 2026
DJIA: 51,947.25, up 235.60
S&P 500: 7,411.98, up 3.68
NASDAQ: 24,975.82, down 161.87
Stocks higher to start off week
Stock futures are higher Monday morning after a pause in strikes by the U.S. and Iran and ahead of today’s release of June’s preliminary durable goods data. This week, highlights include the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) meeting ending Wednesday, along with Thursday’s June Personal Consumption Expenditures Deflator and advance reading of second-quarter gross domestic product. Investors will also be assessing earnings releases, including several megacap technology companies on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 7:24 AM ET, the Dow is rising 1.1%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.9%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 1.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Friday as the preliminary July readings of S&P Global’s composite and services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) exceeded expectations, with both PMIs rising to 53.6. In contrast, the manufacturing PMI unexpectedly eased to 53.8. June new home sales increased to an annualized pace of 628,000 units. The Dow was up 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%. The S&P 500 increased 0.1% with 10 of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Real Estate sector was the top performer, rising 2.4%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, the preliminary reading of June’s durable goods orders is forecasted to show an increase of 1.8% month-over-month, compared to the prior month’s 4.5% decrease. Meanwhile, the Dallas Fed’s Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for July will be released, with the general business activity index forecasted to improve to 2.0 from the prior month’s 0.0.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as Germany’s Ifo Business Climate Index increased more than projected in July, rising to 86.6 from the previous month’s upwardly revised reading of 85.7.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as China’s industrial profits increased 15.1% year-over-year (YOY) in June versus prior month’s increase of 21.1% YOY. Japan’s Services Producer Price Index eased to 3.2% YOY in June from the prior month’s upwardly revised 3.4%.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower ahead of this week’s U.S. data releases.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 6.9% lower at $83.14/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.1% higher at $4,097.64/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.