Dow Chasing Record High After Trump's EU Trade Deal
Stocks were on track for another session of gains on Monday after President Donald Trump said he had struck a deal to set 15% tariffs on the European Union, reassuring investors after months of trade-based uncertainty.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 89 points, or 0.2%, putting it on pace to open at a record high. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.5%, after both indexes set records of their own Friday.
The U.S. and the EU reached a trade pact on Sunday, which Trump touted as “the biggest deal ever made.” It’s a welcome development for investors, with just days to go until the Aug. 1 deadline the White House has set for any deals to be reached before tariffs snap higher.
“It certainly helps to firm up the bull case for equities, which was already a pretty resilient one anyway,” Michael Brown, strategist at the foreign exchange brokerage Pepperstone, said. “Clearly, the direction of travel remains towards a cooler and calmer tone on trade, with deals continuing to be done, and the tail risk of ‘no deal’ outcomes now being priced out… Frankly, it’s tough to bet against the market continuing to print record highs for the time being.”
A fresh round of negotiations between the U.S. and China, the looming Federal Reserve interest-rate decision, and another batch of Big Tech earnings are among the other factors that could move stock prices this week.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped 1 basis point to 4.38% on Monday. The U.S. Dollar climbed 0.2% against a weighted basket of its peers, and gold prices climbed 0.2% to $3,341 an ounce.