Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, after US benchmarks slipped on Friday.

ASX futures were down 0.5% or 35 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a lower open.

In the US, Nike shares tumbled to their worst day on record, dragging the Dow and S&P 500 to losses on Friday.

Despite declining 0.4%, the S&P 500 ended Friday within 27 points of a record high. The companies in the broad index have added nearly $6 trillion in market capitalization so far this year, the largest first-half gain on record.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite shed 0.7% Friday but also remains near its all-time high. It was the only of the three big indexes to end the week higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%, or 45 points.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.3% to US$85.00 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,326.75.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was down at 4.16% while the 10 Year yield was also down at 4.31%. US Treasury notes were up, with the 2 Year yield at 4.75% and the 10 Year yield at 4.40%.

The Australian dollar was 66.46 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.44.

Asia

Chinese shares ended mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.7% at 2,967.40. The Shenzhen Composite Index closed 0.25% higher, while the ChiNext Price Index declined 1.2%. Among major stocks, China Telecom and China Mobile added 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, East Money Information dropped 6.9% and CATL was 2.7% lower. Investors are closely watching the upcoming Third Plenum, a key political meeting of the Communist Party in July, to understand the country's reform and economic direction for the coming years, HSBC analysts said in a research note.

Hong Kong shares were little changed as tech companies and electric-vehicle makers dragged on the market, while Chinese state-owned enterprises led gains. Meituan and JD.com shed 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively. Li Auto was 2.6% lower, NIO fell 3.95% and XPeng declined 3.6%. Among individual movers, Sino-Ocean Service dropped 3.2% after it received a winding-up petition in a Hong Kong court. Sino-Ocean Group lost 11%. Chinese SOEs were some of the top gainers, with PetroChina climbing 4.4%, China Unicom (Hong Kong) rising 3.6% and Cnooc adding 3.0%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed flat at 17,718.61; the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.0%.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in machinery makers, trading houses and banks as a weak yen raises hopes for earnings growth. Itochu gained 2.6%, Fanuc added 2.1% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group climbed 3.9%. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.6% to 39583.08. The index lost 1.9% in the second quarter. Investors are focusing on U.S. inflation data due later in the day and any warnings by Japanese officials against the yen's sharp depreciation. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield was down 3 basis points at 1.040%.

Indian shares ended lower, snapping a four-session winning streak. The benchmark Sensex fell 0.3% to 79,032.73, a day after closing at a new all-time high. Still, the benchmark index rose 7.3% in 2Q, bringing gains this year to 9.4%. Bank stocks were broadly lower, with IndusInd Bank dropping 2.6% and Axis Bank down 2.05%. Tech stocks also weighed on the index. Tata Consultancy Services declined 0.7% and Tech Mahindra was 0.1% lower. Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries continued its rally, rising 2.3% to a new record close.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. slipped Friday, as the FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.2% to 8,164.12.

Among large companies, JD Sports Fashion PLC posted the largest decline, dropping 5.4%, followed by shares of Future PLC, which dropped 5.2%. Shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC fell 3.7%.

Old Mutual Ltd. was the biggest gainer during the session, gaining 3.3%, and Alphawave IP Group PLC gained 2.9%. Carnival PLC rounded out the top three movers on Friday, as shares gained 2.4%.

In Europe, shares closed mixed, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 0.2% to 511.42, Germany's DAX rose 0.1% to 18,235.45 and France's CAC 40 fell 0.7% to 7,479.40.

North America

Nike shares tumbled to their worst day on record, dragging the Dow and S&P 500 to losses on Friday.

It was a downbeat ending for an otherwise gangbusters first half for stocks.

Despite declining 0.4%, the S&P 500 ended Friday within 27 points of a record high. The companies in the broad index have added nearly $6 trillion in market capitalization so far this year, the largest first-half gain on record.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite shed 0.7% Friday but also remains near its all-time high. It was the only of the three big indexes to end the week higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%, or 45 points.

Nike, which reported an unexpected sales decline and issued a gloomy outlook Thursday after market hours, fell 20% in its biggest one-day decline on record. The shoemaker, which has lost ground in the critical running category, was the worst performer by a mile in both the Dow and the S&P 500.

Treasury yields rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note climbed to 4.342%, from 4.287% on Thursday. Yields, which rise as prices fall, climbed for the second straight quarter and the eighth of the last 10.

Stocks traded higher in the morning, following a fresh reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge that suggested moderating price pressures.

The personal-consumption expenditures price index rose 2.6% in May from a year earlier, in line with the expectations of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. The May reading was the lowest since 2021 and compares with a 2.7% rise in April.

Investors said data like that, as well as corporate earnings expectations. were still driving their investment decisions more than the coming presidential election.

"It's still early to bake election potential outcomes into investment at this stage," said Jimmy Chang, chief investment officer at Rockefeller Global Family Office. "Especially after yesterday's debate because now you have a little bit of uncertainty about the Democratic nominee."

He said he didn't believe that the election would factor into the Fed's next interest-rate decisions as long as economic data supports a cut.

"If you see a softening of the employment picture and a continued easing of inflation, they can probably sneak one in," Chang said.

Jeremiah Buckley, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, said data like Friday's inflation gauge increases the likelihood that the Fed will cut interest rates at the central bank's September meeting, as many investors and traders expect.

"The inflation numbers continue to point in the right direction, so the Fed has the flexibility to do so," he said. "There's a risk that if the Fed waits too long there will be impacts on housing and construction that will be hard to reverse."

Apartment construction is an example, he said. Though there is a glut of new apartments, few new projects are under construction given high financing costs. Without a pipeline of new housing, rents could surge again.

In commodities, corn prices had their worst day of the year after an Agriculture Department report said farmers have planted more acres with America's top cash crop than expected. Most-traded futures, for December, fell 3% to $4.2075 a bushel, among the lowest prices since 2020.