Stock futures inch higher
U.S. stock futures moved higher Monday to start a busy week of corporate earnings, while traders continued to track developments surrounding the global coronavirus pandemic and Washington-Beijing relations.
This is the busiest week of the quarter for corporate earnings, with more than 170 S&P 500 companies expected to report. Among the companies set to report later this week are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG).
Traders are also awaiting the Federal Reserve’s latest views, data on how the U.S. and European economies performed during the second quarter, and Big Tech hearing on Capitol Hill.
By 5:30 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow futures indicated a gain of 125 points, or 0.47% to 26,447. The S&P 500 futures rose 15.62 points, or 0.49% to 3,219.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 80.88 points, or 0.77% to 10,539.88.
Gold soars as escalating U.S.-China tensions lift demand
Gold prices were also trading higher on Monday morning as intensifying tensions between the U.S. and China, ultra-low interest rates, virus resurgence, and a weakening dollar increased bullion’s safe-haven appeal.
The precious metal climbed 1.6% to a record high of $1,943 per ounce, topping its previous record of $1,921 set in September 2011. It has now gained nearly 27% since the beginning of the year. Silver was up 6% to reach $24.21 an ounce, surpassing Thursday’s seven-year high.
Last week, the U.S. government ordered China to shut its consulate in Houston, a move that prompted Beijing to order the closure of U.S. consulate in Chengdu.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. and its allies should use “more creative and assertive ways” to press Chinese leaders to change their ways.
Moderna stock jumps after latest funding
In other news, shares in Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) rose in the pre-market trading session after the drugmaker revealed that it received an additional $472 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to create a COVID-19 vaccine.
The company was initially allocated a $483 billion award to support of its mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate, as part of its contract with the U.S. government. As of writing, the stock was up 8.46% to $79.40 a share.