Stock Futures Rise: Dow Futures Gain 0.17%, S&P 500 Up 0.4%, Nasdaq-100 Jumps 0.98% Ahead of Fed Minutes

Stock futures rose Monday as traders returned from the July 4 holiday weekend. Dow futures rose 0.17%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.4% and Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.98%. The moves come three days ahead of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting minutes, due Wednesday. Investors also await June’s ISM Services PMI, the week’s first major data point.

Last Week’s Close Sets the Stage

The Dow Jones (^DJI) Industrial Average closed at a record 52,900.07 on Thursday, July 2, up 594.83 points, or 1.14%. The S&P 500 ended little changed at 7,483.24. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.80%, while the Nasdaq-100 (^NDX) fell 1.61% during the session. 

Chips Dragged, Old-Economy Names Held Up

Chipmakers led the pullback. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 5.4% Thursday after a 6.7% slide the day before. Nvidia fell 1.4%, SanDisk tumbled 14.1%, and Micron remained up over 260% for the year despite the pullback.

Fed Minutes Due Wednesday

Markets now turn to the Federal Reserve. Minutes from the June 16-17 meeting, chaired by Kevin Warsh, land Wednesday. The Fed’s dot plot showed that 9 of 18 officials expected a rate increase in 2026. Warsh himself declined to submit a forecast, a move some analysts read as an attempt to reset expectations around the central bank’s communication style.

Jobs Data Behind the Rate Debate

June’s jobs report gave investors a reason to pause. Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 57,000, well short of the 113,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%. That cooler reading has shifted some rate-hike bets toward a longer hold, a factor futures traders are weighing this morning.

Chip Stocks and Big Tech in Focus

Big Tech names split last week. Meta Platforms gained after Bloomberg reported plans for a cloud business selling excess AI computing capacity. Apple rose 4.8% on a Nikkei Asia report describing five new iPhone models in development. Tesla dropped 7.5% even after posting second-quarter deliveries of 480,126 vehicles, well above the 406,600 Wall Street expected.

Related stocks trading actively this week include:

• Nvidia (NVDA)
• Micron Technology (MU)
• SanDisk (SNDK)
• Meta Platforms (META)
• Apple (AAPL)
• Tesla (TSLA)

SpaceX Set to Join Nasdaq-100

Index-tracking funds are set to begin buying SpaceX shares after Monday’s close, with the stock officially joining the Nasdaq-100 before trading opens Tuesday, July 7. The addition follows Alphabet’s recent entry into the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon. Both changes reflect the growing weight of mega-cap technology names across major benchmarks this year.

What to Watch This Week

The economic calendar stays light through midweek, then picks up:

• Monday: June ISM Services PMI
• Wednesday: FOMC minutes from the June meeting
• Ongoing: Second-quarter earnings season begins in mid-July

Traders are treating Monday’s session as a gauge of whether last week’s rotation into industrials and defensive names continues, or whether buyers return to chip stocks once the initial profit-taking clears.

Final Thoughts

Futures point to a firmer open, but the real test comes Wednesday. Fed minutes will show how divided policymakers are on rate hikes after a soft June jobs report. Until then, expect chip stocks, Fed commentary, and the SpaceX index addition to drive most of the day-to-day moves.

Disclaimer:

The content shared by Meyka AI PTY LTD is solely for research and informational purposes. Meyka is not a financial advisory service, and the information provided should not be considered investment or trading advice