Stocks were muted on Monday as market participants looked ahead of a busy week that includes big tech earnings reports, the Federal Reserve's next policy decision, key economic data, and President Donald Trump's trade deadline as Wall Street trades around all-time highs.
The S&P 500 Index
Anticipation for more clarity on the health of businesses and consumers alike also clouded the announced trade deal between the United States and European Union over the weekend, which called for a lower 15% tariff on most imports over the previously threatened 30%. The deal outlines tariff-exempt products including aircraft and component parts, semiconductor equipment, natural resources, critical raw materials, and other chemicals.
The announced deal brought semiconductor equipment provider ASML
"ASML had indicated in its Q2 results that it saw hesitation (and thus lack of orders) from customers to order tools for their new U.S. fabs due to the risk of tariffs on semiconductor equipment," the analysts wrote. "If this information from the U.S. on zero tariffs on semiconductor equipment is correct, then this would be very positive for ASML in particular."
Trump also said on Monday his administration will likely issue a baseline tariff between 15% and 20% on countries that have not reached a trade deal with the U.S., starting Friday -- representing a jump from the current 10% duty implemented back in April.
"We're going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world, and that's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can't sit down and make 200 deals," Trump told reporters in Scotland on Monday.
Beyond Friday's trade deadline, investors will also turn their attention towards earnings reports from mega-caps Meta Platforms
Wall Street will also be met with the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision on Wednesday. While the central bank is widely expected to maintain its benchmark borrowing rate at its current target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, market participants will be looking for forward statements on a potential rate cut in September.
On the economic front, investors are also looking ahead towards the Labor Department's monthly jobs report for July, which is expected to show the economy adding 102,000 payrolls and the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.2%. Other key economic readings due out this week include July's consumer confidence and June's job openings reports on Tuesday, the ADP's jobs report on Wednesday, and June's personal consumption expenditures reading on Thursday.
