Opening Comment — Monday, May 11, 2026
DJIA: 49,609.16, up 12.19
S&P 500: 7,398.93, up 61.82
NASDAQ: 26,247.08, up 440.88
Stocks lower to start off week
Stock futures are mostly lower Monday morning as markets assess ongoing developments in negotiations to end the Iran war ahead of Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping late this week. Investors are also looking forward to this week’s updates on inflation, with April’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and Import Price Index due Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, respectively. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both decreasing 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is little changed relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mostly higher on Friday as April’s nonfarm payrolls rose by 115,000, more than forecasted. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3% as the labor force participation rate ticked down to 61.8%. The May reading of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan preliminarily fell to a new all-time low despite one- and five-to-ten-year inflation expectations unexpectedly falling. The Dow was little changed, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7% and hit a new record closing level of 26247.08. The S&P 500 increased 0.8% and set a new record closing level of 7398.93, with six of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector was the top performer, rising 2.7%, while the Utilities sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, existing home sales are forecasted to have been at an annualized 4.05 million pace in April versus the prior month’s 3.98 million pace, corresponding to an increase of 2.0% month-over-month versus the prior month’s decrease of 3.6%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as investors are looking forward to this week’s releases of April CPIs and first-quarter gross domestic product growth data around the region.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as China’s trade surplus widened more than forecasted in April, following both imports and exports registering greater-than-expected increases. The country’s CPI and PPI also registered greater-than-expected increases of 1.2% and 2.8% year-over-year, respectively.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of this week’s U.S. inflation data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.6% higher at $97.88/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.1% lower at $4,665.94/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.