U.S. futures remained steady at Monday’s close as the dollar weakened and European stocks marginally declined. After incurring losses on Monday morning following Nvidia Corp.’s revenue miss, both S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts gained approximately 0.1% each ahead of the stock market close.
Optimism among U.S. investors is high following estimates that the US consumer-price index peaked in June as well as expectations for a significant drop in July. It is largely believed that this could be the single biggest CPI decrease in two years.
Further confidence has been gained as the likelihood of a coming recession seems to have dwindled following the release of strong nonfarm payroll figures and consistent corporate performance. At present, 81% of S&P companies have reported that their financial performances are either meeting or exceeding expectations.
Sophie Lund-Yates, the Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, remarked that such positive market conditions indicate a conducive economic environment for strong future earnings. She did warn, however, that, “while it doesn’t indicate recession has been wholly avoided, it does indicate that the corporate outlook, and therefore consumer resilience, is perhaps looking better than it was.”
Among the winning stocks were Norwegian Cruise, gaining 3%, along with Tesla Inc., rising by 1.2%.