(Reuters) – Nasdaq 100 futures rose on Monday, with the tech-heavy index set to extend its rally to the second half of the year, as shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla surged after reporting a record number of vehicles deliveries in the second quarter.
Tesla gained 6.1% in premarket trading after the EV maker’s delivery numbers in the second quarter topped market estimates following incentives and increased discounts.
All three major U.S. indexes defied recession fears and uncertainty from the U.S. banking crisis to end the first half of the year on a positive note, with the Nasdaq Composite rallying 31.7% to its biggest first-half increase in four decades.
“Powered by the AI frenzy of enthusiasm, a handful of technology firms have become money magnets, deflecting any concerns about the impact of high interest rates and banking turmoil,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The second half of the year is still set to be dominated by speculation over just how high interest rates will go and how long they will stay there.”
Investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, out on Wednesday, for cues on the central bank’s monetary tightening path and why the Fed decided to pause rate hikes.
At 05:05 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 36 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.5 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 42.25 points, or 0.28%.
Markets will be closed on Tuesday on account of the Independence Day holiday.
Other closely watched U.S. data this week includes surveys on manufacturing and services, job openings and the June payrolls report.
Among other movers, Apple slipped 0.1%, after a strong rally last week that helped the world’s most-valuable company hit market capitalization above $3 trillion on Friday.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese carmaker Xpeng jumped 10.8% after reporting that its second quarter deliveries rose 27% from the first quarter.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
