
Stock futures rose Sunday night following a strong week on Wall Street that drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average to record highs.
Futures tied to the 30-stock benchmark added 89 points, 0.17%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.4%, while Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.98%.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Monday as investors rethink artificial intelligence-driven plays, with focus also on the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, set to be released later this week.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%, while the Topix added 0.2%. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.91%, while the small-cap Kosdaq declined 1%. Chinese markets opened in the green, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbing 0.4%, while the CSI 300 added 0.2%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was flat.
The Japanese yen was trading at 161.54 per U.S. dollar after weakening to a 40-year low against the greenback last week. South Korea's won depreciated around 0.25% to 1532.82 per dollar after the currency began 24-hour trading.
The Dow climbed nearly 2% last week, putting it within striking distance of 53,000, a level it has never reached. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also posted sharp gains last week, advancing 1.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Those gains came even as semiconductors — the force behind many of the market's gains this year — faltered last week, with investors paring exposure to chipmakers and rotating into other sectors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) shed 3.2%, marking its second losing week in a row.
"The broadening in sector rotation is a big positive, with Financials, Healthcare, and Industrials all closing at new weekly all-time highs this week and more than offsetting the consolidation in Semis," wrote Mark Newton, head of Technical Strategy at Fundstrat. "While the Semi decline is a short-term headwind that favors owning other sectors while it settles, it has not dented the broader indices."
Newton expects the S&P 500 to reach 8,000 by mid-August. The benchmark closed last week at 7,483.24, about 7% below the 8,000 mark.
Traders this week will turn their eyes to the Federal Reserve, with the minutes of the June meeting — the first led by new Chairman Kevin Warsh — due Wednesday.