U.S. stock futures are higher after the broad S&P 500 scored its sixth straight record high close on July 28. It also was the S&P 500’s 15th record high close this year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq also closed at an all-time high.
Stocks got a boost after the European Union struck a trade deal with the United States over the weekend. The deal included billions of dollars worth of investments by the EU in the United States and a 15% tariff for most European goods entering the United States.
Countries that haven’t agreed on a trade deal with the United States have until Aug 1 to reach one. Otherwise, President Donald Trump said the baseline global tariff rate will be between 15% and 20%.
At 6:10 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow added 0.15%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.28% and Nasdaq futures jumped 0.45%.
Make or break week
Since mid-April, the S&P 500 has surged nearly 28%, the fastest rebound in over 50 years. Now comes the real test, said Chief Investment Officer Gene Goldman at investment management firm Cetera.
Stocks will face a triple threat this week that could either justify the recent rally or create headwinds, he said. The first potential threat is earnings, especially from so-called Magnificent Seven influential megacap tech companies Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple. Investors will be looking at whether artificial intelligence spending is slowing at all. AI spending has boosted tech companies this year.
The second potential threat is the Federal Reserve policy meeting. “The Fed is likely to hold rates steady in July with dissents from Governors Waller and Bowman, marking the first time two governors have dissented at a meeting since 1993,” said Russell Investments’ Global Chief Investment Strategist Paul Eitelman. Eitelman expects the next rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting.
The last potential threat is July’s employment report at the end of the week. It’s expected to show 102,000 new jobs, down from 147,000 in June and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 4.2% from 4.1%.
Company news
Procter & Gamble chief executive Jon Moeller will step down from his role and become executive chairman of the company, effective Jan. 1, 2026. He will be replaced by chief operating officer Shailesh Jejurikar.
Cadence Design Systems topped analysts’ estimates with its second-quarter results and issued positive full-year guidance.
Steel producer Nucor missed second-quarter expectations. It also expects current quarter results to be “nominally lower” than the second-quarter.
Appliance maker Whirlpool reported disappointing second-quarter results and offered full-year guidance below analysts’ forecasts.
Cryptocurrency
PayPal launched “Pay with Crypto” to allow consumers to use many types of cryptocurrencies to complete their purchases, and use wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask. Once the transaction is completed, the payments will automatically convert to fiat or stablecoin.
Pay with Crypto will allow companies to accept cross-border payments in cryptocurrencies and lower their costs for accepting such a transaction, PayPal said.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures higher after EU trade deal boost
