Dow Futures Slip, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Climb Ahead Of Key Retail Earnings, Fed Minutes: NLST, AVGO, LUNR, MRK Stocks In Focus

U.S. stock futures were trading mixed in the overnight session late Sunday ahead of quarterly reports from key retailers including Walmart Inc. (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), and Home Depot, Inc. (HD), among others.

Dow futures were down 0.09%, while the S&P 500 futures climbed 0.09% and the Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.25% at 9:33 PM EDT.

On Friday, all three benchmark indexes closed lower, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the decline, down 0.28% at close. The Dow and S&P 500 also closed down 0.20% and 0.17%, respectively.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are coming off three consecutive weeks of gains, with the former notching fresh record highs in the recent sessions.

Meanwhile, the Dow snapped two weeks of gains to end about 0.56% lower last week.

A Stocktwits poll that sought to gauge how investors expect the S&P 500 to move next week found that nearly half of those who voted expect the index to climb more than 1%. About 20% of those who voted expect it to move between flat to 1%. The rest expect the index to decline.

U.S. markets were closely watching inflation data last week. July’s PPI came in flat, falling short of expectations for a 0.2% increase, following a subdued CPI report that showed consumer prices rising 0.1% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year.

This eased concerns of a near-term rate hike from the Federal Reserve in its upcoming September session. According to data from the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of a Fed rate hike in September is down to 33.1% from 44.4% a week earlier.

Markets will now be watching the Fed’s July meeting minutes, expected on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the last leg of the earnings season will bring quarterly updates from major retailers this week. Home Depot is expected to post results on Tuesday, while Target’s print is expected on Wednesday and Walmart will report its latest earnings on Thursday. Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOWE) and TJX Companies (TJX) are also reporting their latest results this week.

Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, noted in a post on X, “Looking ahead, and even with the release of the Fed minutes, don't expect this week’s economic data to resolve the dissonance among rallying equities, rising bond yields, lower expectations for Fed rate hikes, and softening consumer data—all within an ecosystem undergoing secular and structural transformations.”

On the geopolitical front, tensions between Iran and the U.S. continue into the week. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday at a rally in New York that after the U.S. finishes defeating Iran, he will be claiming “the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”