Profit Taking May Contribute To Initial Pullback On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Monday, with stocks likely to give back ground after trending higher over the past couple weeks.

Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street, as traders cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which has lifted the major averages to their best levels in month.

The S&P 500 closed higher for the ninth consecutive session last Friday, marking its longest winning streak in over twenty years.

Renewed trade concerns may also weigh on Wall Street after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on movies produced in foreign countries.

“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.”

“This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!” he added. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

Trump also told reporters on Sunday that he has no plans to talk to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, offsetting recent optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal.

Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, with the major averages reaching their best closing levels in a month. The rally on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. job growth far exceeded economist estimates in the month of April.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the session but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 266.99 points or 1.5 percent to 19,977.73, the S&P 500 shot up 82.53 points or 1.5 percent to 5,686.67 and the Dow jumped 564.47 points or 1.4 percent to 41,317.43.

For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared by 3.4 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 spiked by 3.0 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

The rally on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. job growth far exceeded economist estimates in the month of April.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 177,000 jobs in April compared to expectations for an increase of about 130,000 jobs.

At the same time, the jumps in employment in February and March were downwardly revised to 102,000 jobs and 185,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 58,000 jobs.

The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in April, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

“Markets breathed a sigh of relief this morning as the jobs data came in better than expected,” said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Northlight Asset Management. “While recession fears are still simmering on the back burner, the buy-the-dip dynamic can continue – at least until the tariff pause runs out.”

Buying interest was also generated in reaction to indications China is open to trade talks with the U.S., with a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce saying U.S. officials have “repeatedly expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs.”

The spokesperson said China is “currently evaluating” messages sent to China through relevant parties hoping to start trade talks.

However, according to a Google translation, the spokesperson said the U.S. has to be prepared to “correct its wrong practices” and cancel unilateral tariffs if it wants to talk and warned failure to do so would show the U.S. has “no sincerity at all and will further damage the mutual trust between the two sides.”

The strength on Wall Street came a despite a slump by shares of Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant tumbling by 3.7 percent after reporting its quarterly results after the close of Thursday’s trading.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 6.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. With the jump, the index reached its best closing level in over a month.

Financial, pharmaceutical and software stocks also saw significant strength, while telecom stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are tumbling $1.05 to $57.24 a barrel after slumping $0.95 to $58.29 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $21.10 to $3,243.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are surging $85.60 to $3,328.90 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.75 yen versus the 144.96 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1354 compared to last Friday’s $1.1297.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed in thin trading on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had no plans to talk to his Chinese counterpart this week.

Trump also told NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” that the tariffs announced in recent weeks would remain in some form to convince businesses to move production to the U.S.

He also announced a new 100 percent tariff on movies produced outside America, saying that Hollywood and other areas are “being devastated” due to “a concerted effort by other Nations.”

Regional trade volumes were thin as markets in Japan, Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea were closed for public holidays.

A weaker dollar helped lift gold prices in Asian trading, while oil prices plunged after the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations said it plans to increase output.

Australian markets fell sharply, with energy stocks leading losses as WTI crude futures sank more than 3 percent on oversupply concerns after a bold Saudi-led move to reorder the global oil market with an aggressive ramp-up of OPEC+ supply.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 1.0 percent to 8,157.80 after having climbed 2.4 percent over the past five sessions. The broader All Ordinaries Index shed 1.0 percent to close at 8,374.

Beach Energy, Santos, Karoon Energy and Woodside Energy all lost around 4 percent. Lender Westpac declined 3 percent after its interim earnings for the first half of 2025 failed to impress.

Peer Commonwealth Bank of Australia gave up 1.6 percent, ANZ dropped 1 percent and NAB declined 1.8 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose 0.8 percent to 12,421.25, marking its fourth straight session of gains.

Europe

European shares are turning in a mixed performance on Monday as investors await new updates on the tariff front and look ahead to interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England later this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States was in talks with several countries, including China, about trade deals.

Despite heightened economic uncertainty, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to stay in “wait-and-see” mode and keep its key interest rate steady at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

The Bank of England is seen cutting interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent on Thursday. Traders will monitor the vote split and the Bank’s press conference closely to assess the potential for future easing.

While the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent. The U.K. markets are closed for a bank holiday.

Erste Group Bank AG shares have surged. The Austrian lender has agreed to buy much of Banco Santander SA operations in Poland for about €7 billion.

Danish drug maker Nordisk has also jumped after the U.S. FDA accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) submission for an oral version of its weight-loss drug Wegovy.

U.S. Economic News

The Institute for Supply Management is due to release its report on service sector activity in the month of April at 10 am ET. The ISM’s services PMI is expected to edge down to 50.6 in April after falling to 50.8 in March, but a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $58 billion worth of three-year notes.