LONDON/WASHINGTON, July 6 : Wall Street opened mostly higher on Monday on the back of continued optimism around chip stocks, while oil erased earlier losses amid an anticipated surge in supply.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.26 per cent, to 52,761.32 in early trading, but the S&P 500 rose 0.42 per cent, to 7,514.46 and the Nasdaq Composite surged 0.92 per cent, to 26,069.08. European stocks flirted with record highs during trading, as investors awaited a crucial earnings season for the AI sector.While there were no new developments in the fractious U.S.-Iran peace talks, ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz, with 160 vessels reported transiting from Monday to Saturday last week.OPEC+ also agreed to a further increase in output targets by 188,000 barrels per day from August. Brent crude erased earlier losses and stood around pre-Iran war levels, last up slightly to $72.14 per barrel.
Europe's STOXX 600 slipped 0.6 per cent after touching a record high earlier in the session.The U.S. benchmark index rallied 1.8 per cent last week, while the STOXX 600 climbed 2.7 per cent as traders reduced their bets on rate hikes while energy prices cooled, although some pockets of the tech sector — particularly chipmakers — struggled. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.18 per cent, to 1,125.84.Investors will be watching closely for how artificial intelligence-related companies are faring amid some fears about a bubble in the upcoming earnings season. Microsoft joined the trend of tech layoffs Monday, announcing it would eliminate around 4,800 jobs, roughly 2.1 per cent of its global workforce.Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo are the big U.S. names reporting this week.Samsung Electronics is set to make a splash on Tuesday as analysts expect an 18-fold increase in profits.South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix will launch a U.S. listing on Monday to raise about $28 billion, according to regulatory filings, in a further test of the AI wave's strength.In currency markets, the dollar index rose 0.24 per cent to 101.11 after dipping in the wake of Thursday's weaker-than-expected June U.S. payrolls report. The dollar firmed 0.6 per cent to 162.35 yen , not far from 40-year peaks of 162.84, as speculators test Japanese authorities' resolve on intervention.U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a NATO meeting in Turkey this week, while the data calendar kicks off with the U.S. ISM Services survey later on Monday. Fed watchers will also get another glimpse into how new Chairman Kevin Warsh steers the central bank when it releases Federal Open Market Committee minutes on Wednesday, the first of his tenure."We expect Warsh to make the FOMC minutes less informative with respect to the views expressed at the FOMC meetings. ... Warsh explicitly avoided policy guidance in the statement and press conference, so it seems unlikely that he would permit such guidance via the minutes," Steve Englander, global head of G10 FX research and North American macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank, wrote in a note.Some central bankers are speaking at a European central banking conference on Monday, including Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, while ECB President Christine Lagarde is also due to speak in Paris.In commodity markets, gold was 0.8 per cent lower at $4,141.53 an ounce, having bounced 2 per cent last week.
