18 08 US PRE OPEN

The S&P 500 Futures remains on the upside after the Nasdaq 100 Index charged 124 points (+1.11%) higher yesterday to a fresh record close of 11288. The S&P 500 added 9 points (+0.27%) to 3382, just below its record close of 3386 seen in February.

Housing Starts for July (annualized rate rising to 1.24 million units expected) will be reported later today. Building permits are expected at 1.3 million units.

European indices are rebounding after a negative start. It is reported that the British government is hopeful of a post-Brexit trade deal with European Union next month, as the two sides entered their seventh round of negotiations.

Asian indices closed mixed as Japanese Nikkei and Hong Kong HSI lost ground when Chinese CSI and Australian ASX closed in the green. Further limitations on Huawei ability to acquire U.S. technology were implemented by the U.S. government.

WTI Crude Oil futures remain on the upside. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the production of U.S. shale oil would fall by 19K b/d to 7.56M b/d in September. Later today, API would release the change of U.S. oil stockpile data for August 14. Russian Energy Minister Novak, tested positive for Covid-19, will join the OPEC meeting by video on Wednesday.

Gold rebounds above 2,000 dollars on US dollar weakness, as the greenback is hurt by lowering yields and weak US data.

Gold rose 22.1 dollars (+1.11%) to 2007.4 dollars while the dollar index fell 0.34pt to 92.515.


U.S. Equity Snapshot


Wal-Mart (WMT), the retailer, is soaring before hours after reporting second quarter adjusted EPS that smashed estimates.


Source: TradingView, GAIN Capital

Amazon.com (AMZN), the e-commerce giant, "announced plans to create 3,500 new tech and corporate jobs across six cities in the United States. The company will expand its Tech Hubs in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, New York (Manhattan), Phoenix, and San Diego. Amazon will invest more than 1.4 billion dollars in these new offices."

Boeing (BA), an aircraft manufacturer, is planning a second round of job cuts this year, according to Bloomberg.

Oracle (ORCL), a computer technology company, may bid for TikTok's U.S. operations, reported the Financial Times.

Home Depot (HD), the home improvement specialty retailer, is gaining ground before hours after posting second quarter comparable sales and EPS that beat forecasts.