A woman walks past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong stock index at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Asian stocks fell on Monday, although Shanghai’s benchmark index jumped after the markets reopen after the Lunar New Year holidays. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
PA
NEW YORK
Wall Street appears to be heading for a slightly higher open to start the week as investors await more corporate earnings reports.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% on Monday while the futures contract for the Dow Jones Industrial was flat.
Shares rose in Europe after a mixed trading session in Asia, where Shanghai’s benchmark index jumped after the Lunar New Year holiday reopened.
France’s CAC 40 gained 0.2% in early trading, while Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 each gained 0.4%.
Investors are also watching the moves of central banks in India, Indonesia and Thailand, all of which are set to decide monetary policy within the week.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to end at 27,248.87. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1% to 7,110.80. The South Korean Kospi fell 0.2% to 2,745.06. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed, rising less than 0.1% to 24,579.55, while the Shanghai Composite gained 2% to 3,429.58.
This week brings earnings reports from some of the biggest companies in the region, including Japanese automakers. They can provide updates on computer chip shortages and other pandemic-related disruptions and pressures.
Shares of Spirit Airlines jumped 12% in premarket trading on Monday after Frontier announced it was buying the low-cost airline in a $2.9 billion cash and stock deal which will create the fifth largest carrier in the country. The deal is expected to come under scrutiny from anti-trust regulators.
On Friday, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 4,500.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% to 35,089.74 after a last-minute selloff. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.6% to 14,098.01. All three indexes posted a weekly gain for the second week in a row.
This week, market watchers will be watching for new data on US inflation and unemployment insurance claims, due Thursday. Pfizer, UnitedHealth and Walt Disney are among the US companies reporting earnings this week.
The 10-year Treasury note was flat at 1.92% on Monday.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 61 cents to $91.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped from $2.04 on Friday to $92.31. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 15 cents to $93.12 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 114.98 Japanese yen from 115.28 yen. The euro traded at $1.1447, down from $1.1461.
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