Dow Futures 100 Pts Lower; Oil, Metals Stocks Hit Hard

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Investing.com — U.S. stocks are seen opening largely lower Monday, falling back from the previous session’s record levels with sharp falls in oil, gold prices weighing on the commodity sector.

By 8:34 AM ET (1234 GMT), the Dow futures contract was down 100 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures traded 8 points, or 0.2%, lower, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 13 points, or 0.1%.

On Friday, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up over 144 points, or 0.4%, at an all-time high of 35,208.51, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2% to also post a record close. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend, dipping 0.4%.

However, that positive tone has largely dissipated Monday, with a slump in oil prices on the back of falling crude oil imports in China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, weighing on the heavyweight energy stocks.

Covid cases are rising again in China, and the associated new mobility restrictions have prompted Goldman Sachs, along with other influential investment banks, to cut its full-year Chinese GDP growth estimate to 8.3% from 8.6%. 

Meanwhile, U.S. crude futures were down 4.2% at $65.39 a barrel, after falling nearly 7% last week, the steepest weekly decline in nine months, while Brent futures were down 3.8% at $68.02 a barrel, having dropped 6% last week, the biggest weekly loss in four months.

This hit U.S. oil stocks hard, with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) down 1.6% premarket, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) 1.7% lower, Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) 2.5% lower and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) dropped 2.1% 

Gold prices also slumped to the lowest level since March, falling below $1,700/oz before posting a minor recovery to currently change hands for $1,744.65/oz, still around 4% lower over the last week.

Metal miners also came under pressure, with gold prices slumping to the lowest level since March and base metals. Including copper, also weakening. The stock of Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX), the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, fell 2%. 

Still, there is some good news available with the U.S. Senate likely to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill early this week, resulting in the largest U.S. investment in roads and bridges in decades.

The economic data slate centers around the June JOLTS survey, a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to help measure job vacancies, but the main focus will be on speeches by Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Richmond Fed head Thomas Barkin later Monday.

Both Fed policymakers are known to lean towards the central bank tapering its bond-buying program sooner rather than later, so their comments will be closely watched, particularly after Friday’s strong payrolls number.

The second-quarter earnings season is drawing to a close, but there are still a number of influential companies set to report this week. This includes the likes of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN),Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) and DoorDash (NYSE:DASH).