Abstract:Traders head into the second half of the year with stocks at record highs but some are optimistic the market could shoot even higher in the months ahead.
U.S. equity futures fell early Tuesday to kick off the second half of 2025 after the S&P 500 notched another record to close out a stunning quarter.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 60 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 futures declined 0.3% along with the Nasdaq-100 futures.
The broad market S&P 500 advanced 0.5% on Monday, posting another record close, while the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose to fresh all-time highs, gaining 0.5%. The blue-chip Dow climbed 275.50 points, or 0.6%.
Monday's moves came after Canada walked back its digital services tax in an attempt to facilitate trade negotiations with the U.S. Ottawa's move to rescind the new levy comes after President Donald Trump said on Friday he would be “terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada.”
Traders are hoping for deals between the U.S. and its trading partners, as Trump's 90-day reprieve on his steepest tariffs is set to expire next week.
Stocks have made an impressive comeback after suffering steep declines in April, after Trump's sweeping tariff policy pushed the S&P 500 near bear market territory. The major averages have since made a sharp turnaround, with the broad market index closing the second quarter with a 10.6% gain and the Nasdaq up nearly 18% in the period.
Though traders now head into the second half of the year with stocks at record highs, some remain optimistic the market could surge even higher in the months ahead.
“We think this is going to be a broader recovery,” Mike Wilson, chief U.S. equity strategist and chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, said Monday on CNBC's “Closing Bell.”
“I think with the Fed cutting in the second half of this year or next year, we can see a rolling recovery – because now there's quite a bit of pent-up demand, particularly in those interest rate sensitive parts of the market,” he added. Those corners of the market include manufacturing and housing, the strategist said.
Traders are looking ahead to the S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index at 9:45 a.m. ET, which will give investors a read on the activity in the manufacturing sector, as well as the ISM manufacturing report at 10 a.m. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) will also be released Tuesday morning.
European stocks open tentatively higher
It's been around 25 minutes since the opening bell, and European shares are struggling to gain momentum.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen trading around 0.1% higher, but the index has been wavering between that gain and the flatline since the session began.
Most sectors are trading in the green, with utilities stocks leading industry gains on a rise of around 1%.
Looking at major bourses, only the FTSE 100 — last seen up by 0.2% — is trading in positive territory.
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Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors assess gains on Wall Street and Trump's tariff plans
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Tuesday as investors assessed the record gains on Wall Street and the global impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies, as his 90-day tariff reprieve is set to expire next week.
Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark fell 1.24% to end the day at 39,986.33 after hitting an over 11-month high in its previous session, while the broader Topix index declined by 0.73% to settle at 2,832.07.
In South Korea, the Kospi index rose 0.58% to close at 3,089.65, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.28% to 783.67.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended the day flat at 8,451.10.
Meanwhile, India's benchmark Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex were flat as of 1 p.m. Indian Standard Time.
Hong Kong markets are closed for a public holiday.
Goldman Sachs now sees Fed cutting in September, rather than December
Goldman Sachs pulled forward its Federal Reserve rate-cut outlook to September, a tweak from its earlier call for a December reduction.
“The very early evidence suggests that the tariff effects look a bit smaller than we expected, other disinflationary forces have been stronger, and we suspect that the Fed leadership shares our view that tariffs will only have a one-time price level effect,” wrote David Mericle, chief U.S. economist, in a Monday report.
He added that while the labor market still appears healthy, it's become harder to find a job. “Both residual seasonality and immigration policy changes pose near-term downside risk to payrolls,” Mericle wrote.
Goldman is penciling in three 25 basis point cuts in September, October and December, along with two more quarter-point reductions in 2026. That results in a terminal rate forecast of 3% to 3.25%, down from the firm's earlier call for 3.5% to 3.75%.
The current target range for the federal funds rate is 4.25% to 4.5%.
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Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Here are the companies making headlines after hours.
Stock futures open slightly lower
U.S. equity futures ticked lower at the start of trading Monday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 59 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, as did Nasdaq 100 futures.
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