U.S. Stock Futures Point to Higher Open as Japan Rallies

U.S. stock futures move higher following a surge in Japanese equities.
By Scott Gamm ,

U.S. stock futures moved higher Monday following a surge in Japanese equities.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.4%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.37% and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.5%.

The S&P 500 on Friday closed less than a point away from its record closing level of 2,130.82, set on May 21, 2015. The benchmark index eclipsed this level during the trading session.

Stocks were lifted by a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report for June. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 287,000, a dramatic rebound from the 11,000 jobs created in May. The unemployment rate rose to 4.9% after falling to 4.7% in May. The rise was seen as a signal that fewer people gave up looking for work as the labor force participation rate rose slightly to 62.7%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index average rose 4% as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's party won additional seats in the upper house, which increases the chances of additional monetary stimulus from Japan's central bank.

Oil prices fell slightly on Monday to $45.35 a barrel on worries of lower demand in Asia.

"For more than two years, there's been more supply than demand,' said Spencer Welch, an oil analyst with IHS. Based in London, Welch expects crude to range between $45-$50 a barrel over the next six months. "The market is back into supply and demand balance," he said.

Yields on the 10-year Treasury bond stood at 1.38%, near a record low, as yields on sovereign debt in Europe and Japan remained near-zero or in negative territory. 

Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report shares rose 1.7% after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he's working on a "top secret masterplan" and expects to unveil more details shortly. The message was similar to a blog post Musk wrote nearly a decade ago titled "The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between me and you)," which detailed what later became the Tesla Model S and Tesla 3 sedans. 

Walmart's (WMT) - Get Report online shoppers will enjoy free shipping with no minimum purchase for the next five days starting Monday in an effort to compete with Amazon's (AMZN) - Get Report "Prime Day" on Tuesday. 

Kinder Morgan (KMI) - Get Report  agreed to sell its stake in the 7,600-mile South Natural Gas pipeline system to Southern Co. (SO) - Get Report for $1.47 billion. Kinder Morgan shares slipped slightly in premarket trading. 

The start of second-quarter earnings season begins after the closing bell Monday when Alcoa (AA) - Get Report reports financial results. Analysts expect the aluminum company to post profit of 9 cents a share on sales of $5.2 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

British Home Secretary Theresa May is likely to succeed U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, according to various reports, after her competitor Andrea Leadsom quit the race amid dwindling support.

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