Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Monday as markets waited to hear whether Friday’s jobs report had affected Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen’s outlook on the return to normalization for U.S. monetary policy.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 31 points, or 0.17%, by 11:10AM GMT, or 7:10AM ET, the S&P 500 futures inched up 2 points or 0.11%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 7 points, or 0.14%.
In a session with no major macro data, market participants were waiting for Yellen’s last scheduled speech before the blackout period begins for the Fed’s policy meeting on June 14-15.
Set to speak on the economy and monetary policy to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia at on Monday at 16:30GMT, or 12:30ET, Yellen was expected to assess the May employment report which caused waves on Friday after the creation of 38,000 nonfarm payrolls (NFP) settled far below consensus expectations.
Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren admitted earlier on Monday that the number was “disappointing”, but said it would be important to see whether it was an anomaly or reflected broader slowing in the labor markets.
Rosengren also noted that May’s unemployment rate of 4.7% was the lowest since December 2007 and that he considered the U.S. economy to be at full employment.
In this regard, traders will want to hear Yellen’s own assessment of the data and the current state of the economy for hints on whether her view on the future path of policy normalization had changed.
In a May 27 speech, the Fed chief had said that if data continued to improve, then a rate hike could be appropriate “in the coming months”.
Meanwhile the dollar rebounded on Monday, after hitting a three-week low against a basket of currencies on Friday due to the weak NFP.
Specifically, the dollar index rose 0.34% to 94.21 after falling 1.74% on Friday to lows of 93.90, the weakest level since May 12.
Gold and copper climbed to fresh multi-week highs on Monday, as investors all but ruled out a rate hike later this month following the release of disappointing U.S. employment data.
Gold rose to an intraday high of $1,251.30 a troy ounce, the most since May 23, while copper futures touched a daily peak of $2.144 a pound, a level not seen since May 9.
In oil markets, crude traded higher with Brent recovering the $50 level as supply disruptions in Nigeria fueled bullish sentiment.
The Niger Delta Avengers militant group has claimed responsibility for three new attacks on Nigeria's oil infrastructure over the weekend, promising to cut production to zero.
U.S. crude futures gained 1.05% to $49.13 by 11:12AM GMT, or 7:12AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 1.05% to $50.16.
In company news, Alliance One International Inc (NYSE:AOI), Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ:SIGM), Thor Industries Inc (NYSE:THO) or United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ:UNFI) were among a handful of firms scheduled to report earnings.