US Stocks Likely To Open Higher Despite Trump Administration's 'Hard Deadline' Warning For Tariffs — Verizon, Domino's Pizza Earnings In Focus

U.S. stock futures were positive on Monday after ending mostly lower on Friday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reiterated Aug. 1 as the “hard deadline” for tariffs but added that the administration is willing to negotiate even after that date.

Investors will also look out for the big-ticket earnings this week, including those of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.38% and the two-year bond was at 3.85%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 95.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its July meeting.

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The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Monday. The SPY was up 0.30% at $629.46, while the QQQ advanced 0.32% to $563.06, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Stocks in the Utilities, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate sectors recorded the biggest gains on Friday. Conversely, Energy, Health Care, and Consumer Staples stocks ended the session lower.

American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) ended 2.35% lower despite reporting better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter 2025 results on Friday. MEI Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:MEIP) surged 31.55% after the company announced a $100 million private placement, with plans to use the proceeds to launch a Litecoin treasury strategy.

In the last week, Dow Jones declined 0.01%, S&P 500 rose 0.67% and Nasdaq Composite advanced by 1.47%.

On the economic data front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index came in at a five-month high for June. One-year inflation expectations fell to 4.4%, down from 5% in the prior month, easing concerns that tariffs are stoking broader price pressures.

The Dow Jones index ended 142 points or 0.32% lower at 44,342.19, whereas the S&P 500 index fell below the flatline by 0.009% to 6,296.79. Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.048% to 20,895.66, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, tumbled 0.61% to end at 2,240.01.

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Insights From Analysts:

Ryan Detrick from Carson Research highlighted in an X post that the “market continues to favor the bulls.”

Highlighting JC Parets’ data, he said that the technology stocks were outperforming relative to consumer staples stocks. Also, underscoring Cam Hui’s data, he explained that defensive stocks were lagging.

Detrick called these as “bullish” signs.

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In another post, Detrick said that the mention of inflation in S&P 500 transcripts was at its lowest since early 2021.

Highlighting this, he said that “it does appear the door is open for cuts,” adding a rhetorical question, saying that “Will they do it is another question.”

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Meanwhile, Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates said that “regardless of whether or not the Fed cuts at its July FOMC meeting, a dovish FOMC statement is now virtually guaranteed to a growing number of members who want to cut.”

He mentioned Fed Governor Christopher Waller‘s comments from Friday morning, where he laid out the case why the Fed should cut key interest rates to support a soft labor market.

“Specifically, Waller said the U.S. economy's momentum has slowed significantly, and he expects it to ‘remain soft’ for the rest of 2025. Waller also said the task of analyzing the labor market is complicated by recent immigration crackdowns,” Navellier said.

He also pointed out that “There’s no evidence of tariffs in the wholesale price report.”

This was as the Labor Department reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI) was unchanged in June, which was substantially below economists' consensus estimate of a 0.2% increase.

Excluding food, energy, and trade services, the core PPI was also unchanged in June, which was also below economists' consensus estimate of a 0.2% increase.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will keep an eye on this week:

• On Monday, June’s U.S. leading economic indicators data will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.

• On Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will give his opening remarks at the banking conference at 8:30 a.m. ET.

• On Wednesday, June’s existing home sales data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.

• On Thursday, the initial jobless claims data for the week ended July 19 will be announced by 8:30 a.m. ET.

• July’s S&P flash U.S. services and manufacturing PMI will be out by 9:45 a.m., and June’s new home sales data will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.

• On Friday, June durable-goods orders data will be announced by 8:30 a.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) was 0.76% higher in premarket on Monday as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.19 per share on revenue of $33.57 billion before the opening bell.

• Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ) was up 0.44% as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $3.95 per share on revenue of $1.14 billion.

• NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) rose 0.19% as analysts expect it to report earnings of $2.67 per share on revenue of $2.90 billion after the closing bell.

• Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was 0.74% above the flatline as it is expected to report earnings after the closing bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $2.42 per share on revenue of $4.76 billion.

• Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) dropped 1.41% after reporting preliminary loss of €2.3 billion in the first half of the year, while revenue came in at €74.3 billion, down from $85 billion in the first half of 2024.

• Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE:ALK) was 1.20% higher in premarket despite grounding its entire fleet due to an IT system issue.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.53% to hover around $65.71 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.45% to hover around $3,365.47 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was lower by 0.24% at the 98.2430 level.

Asian markets ended on a mixed note on Monday as Japan's Nikkei 225 and Australia's ASX 200 indices fell. While Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India's S&P BSE Sensex, China’s CSI 300, and South Korea's Kospi indices rose. European markets were mostly lower in early trade.

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