U.S. Stocks May Move In Opposite Directions In Early Trading

Following the strong upward move by stocks to close out the previous week, the major index futures are currently pointing to a mixed open for the markets on Monday. The Dow futures are up by 121 points, but the Nasdaq 100 futures are down by 42.25 points.

Energy stocks are likely to see early strength amid a jump by gasoline futures after a cybersecurity attack forced the shutdown of the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S.

Colonial Pipeline said it proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, temporarily halting all pipeline operations and affecting some of the company’s IT systems.

Gasoline for June delivery is currently surging up $0.307 or 1.4 percent to $2.1576 a gallon, while crude oil for June delivery is climbing $0.50 to $65.40 a barrel.

On the other hand, technology stocks are likely to see initial weakness following negative analyst comments about several big-name companies.

Oracle (ORCL) is seeing notable pre-market weakness after Barclays downgraded its rating on the business software giant’s stock to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) may also move to the downside after Citi downgraded both stocks to Neutral from Buy.

Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin has also warned about the potential negative impact on the earnings of big-name tech companies if President Joe Biden’s corporate tax plan were fully enacted.

Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, extending the upward move seen on Thursday. With the continued advance, the Dow and the S&P 500 both ended the session at new record closing highs.

The major averages all ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 229.23 points or 0.7 percent to 34,777.76, the Nasdaq advanced 119.40 points or 0.9 percent to 13,752.24 and the S&P 500 climbed 30.98 points or 0.7 percent to 4,232.60.

Despite the continued upward move, the major averages turned in a mixed performance for the week. The Nasdaq slumped by 1.5 percent, while the Dow surged up by 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.2 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have shown modest moves to the downside. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.50 to $65.40 a barrel after rising $0.19 to $64.90 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after advancing $15.60 to $1,831.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are increasing $11.40 to $1,842.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.70 yen versus the 108.60 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.2165 compared to last Friday’s $1.2166.