Last Week's Close
E-mini S&P 500 Futures (June): Settled at 4151.75, down 2.50 on Friday and 17.25 on the week
E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures (June): Settled at 13,405, down 81.50 on Friday and up 18.00 on the week
U.S. benchmarks are pointing higher ahead of Monday’s opening bell, but our rare major 4-star ceiling won Friday’s battle and again overshadows today’s early strength.
On Friday, the S&P failed to breakout above a critical level of resistance at 4183-4186 and pared the session’s gains into settlement. For now, a rebound in energy and crypto have soothed sentiment, though an international incident, a false bomb threat that diverted a commercial jet, is evolving.
Crude oil has gained as much as 2% after Iran Nuclear talks have cooled. Last week, China doubled down on closing loopholes, restraining crypto trading and mining. The sector was hit badly, with CME Bitcoin futures finishing down 28% and losing as much as 40%.
With many tech companies now holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets and providing services facilitating use or storage, it’s become more widely expected that such moves create an undertow for the broader market. At the onset of a new week, there’s some stability across the space and the Nasdaq has used that to its advantage early.
Lastly, but certainly not least, a Ryanair flight was flying over Belarusian airspace and was forced to land in Minsk due to a false bomb threat. A fighter jet took to the air, leading the diversion and allowing Belarusian officials to detain opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. The incident has sparked immediate international condemnation and the EU is expected to respond. However, Russian officials have defended the maneuver.
The economic calendar is quiet today, but we look to speeches from Fed Governor Lael Brainard at 8:00 a.m. CT and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic at 11:00 a.m. CT. Both are 2021 voters.
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