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Investing.com – U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Monday, rebounding after the first losing week in six, ahead of the release of the latest U.S. retail sales figures along with earnings from major retailers.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 100 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 Futures traded 11 points, or 0.2%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 35 points, or 0.2%.
The three major indices snapped a five-week winning streak last week, weighed by increased expectations of early interest rate hikes after consumer price data showed inflation running at historic levels.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.6%, the broad-based S&P 500 closed 0.3% lower, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 0.7%.
U.S. inflation has surged to the highest level in over 30 years and data on Friday showed that consumer sentiment fell to its lowest in a decade this month, as higher prices eroded living standards.
With this in mind, investors will focus on October retail sales data, due out on Tuesday, with economists expecting an increase of 1.1%, after a 0.7% rise in September.
Additionally, a number of major retailers, including Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Target (NYSE:TGT) and Macy’s (NYSE:M), are due to report quarterly earnings this week, with extra scrutiny likely ahead of the start of the holiday shopping season.
Ahead of this, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be in the spotlight after CEO Elon Musk sold more of the electric car manufacturer’s stock on Friday, bringing his total sales for the week to 6.4 million shares amounting to $6.9 billion.
Also of interest Monday will be the virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, given the level of distrust that currently exists between the globe’s two economic powerhouses.
Crude prices fell Monday, weighed by the possibility of additional U.S. supply as well as the continued strength of the U.S. dollar.
Speculation that the Biden administration will authorize the release of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool prices has been rife since the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies decided to stick to its plan of a gradual output increase at its last meeting earlier this month.
Additionally, the U.S. oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by six to 556 in the week to Nov. 12, its highest level since April 2020, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes.
By 7:05 AM ET, the January U.S. crude futures contract traded 1.4% lower at $78.58 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 1.6% to $80.88.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,864.15/oz, while EUR/USD traded largely flat at 1.1450.
