Stocks set to open in the green
U.S. stock index futures crept higher on Monday as May jobs report continued to remain under focus.
As of 5:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were up 188 points, or 0.69% to 27,260. S&P 500 futures jumped 17.37 points, or 0.55% to 3,204.12 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 23.88 points, or 0.24% to 9,832.38.
Data released by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday showed an unexpected rise in employment, raising hopes the economy could bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic sooner than expected.
The department said that U.S. employers added a record 2.5 million jobs last month, well ahead of consensus estimates of a contraction of more than 8 million.
Crude futures gain as OPEC+ extends supply cuts
Crude futures also climbed early Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, decided to extend the supply cuts they implemented in April until at least the end of July.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia increased its monthly crude prices for July following the decision. The cartel agreed in April to trim production by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May and June, in response to a massive slump in crude demand worldwide triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By 5:20 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 28 cents, or 0.71% to $39.83 a barrel. International Brent crude futures were at $42.66, up 36 cents, or 0.85%.
Gilead Sciences shares pop on reports of a possible merger
Meanwhile, shares in Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) are on the rise after Bloomberg News reported that U.K.-based AstraZeneca informally approached the drugmaker to gauge its interest in a possible merger.
People familiar with the matter told the news agency that AstraZeneca did not specify terms for any transaction. The people added that Gilead had discussed the merger idea with advisers, but that no decision had been made on how to proceed and the companies aren’t in formal talks.
AstraZeneca has developed treatments for conditions from cardiovascular disease to cancer and is the U.K.’s biggest drugmaker by market capitalization. Gilead is the maker of a drug that has been cleared by U.S. regulators for emergency use in COVID-19 patients.
As of this writing, Gilead stock was up $2.90, or 3.78% to $79.65 a share in premarket trade Monday.
