Australia

Australian shares are set to open higher, after US benchmarks all rose on Friday.

ASX futures were up 0.64% or 51 points as of 8:00am on Monday, suggesting a higher open.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 40,000 for just the second time Friday, with investors packing up for the weekend feeling confident that a rate cut is around the corner.

The blue-chip index rose 0.6% to just above 40,000, after closing past that threshold for the first time in May. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each climbed 0.6%, and all three indexes logged weekly gains.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.4% to US$85.03 a barrel, while gold was down 0.2% at US$2,411.43.

The Australian dollar was 67.79 US cents.

Asia

Chinese shares closed broadly lower as investors focus on the most important political economy meeting, the Third Plenum, starting Monday for more signals on the country's five-year plan. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended flat at 2,971.30, the Shenzhen Composite Index closed 0.1% lower and the ChiNext Price Index declined 0.1%. Foxconn Industrial Internet led the losses, dropping 5.2%. Shandong Gold Mining and Cosco Shipping were down 4.8% and 4.65%, respectively. Meanwhile, property stocks rose with investors betting on more property sector stimulus in the coming plenum meeting, Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang said. Poly Developments & Holdings gained 3.8% and China Vanke rose 2.1% after securing a CNY1.04 billion loan from a state bank.

Hong Kong shares ended higher, led by gains in property and consumer-related tech stocks. Investors will be watching China's Third Plenum meeting next week for further supportive policies, especially those targeting the beleaguered property sector. Positive signals from U.S. inflation data and expectations of policy tailwinds from China's key political meeting likely supported the market, Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang says in a note. There is also the likelihood that the market views the prior selloff as overdone, he says. Alibaba gained 3.9% and Meituan was 4.9% higher. Among property developers, China Resources Land added 4.3% and China Overseas Land & Investment rose 3.4%. Tech hardware stocks weighed on the market, with Lenovo Group dropping 2.3% and ZTE down 2.8%. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.6% to close at 18,293.38; the Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 2.3%.

Japanese stocks ended lower, dragged by falls in electronics and financial stocks, as U.S. tech stock selloffs overnight lead to sharp drops in bond yields. Tokyo Electron Ltd. lost 6.2% and Dai-ichi Life Holdings shedded 4.1%. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.4% to 41,190.68. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell 4 basis points to 1.040%. Investors are focusing on economic data and their policy implications.

India's Sensex rose 0.8% to close at 80,519.34, driven primarily by the tech sector, said Suman Bannerjee, CIO at investment firm Hedonova. Despite mixed signals from global markets, Indian equities likely attracted buyers during recent dips, reflecting positive market sentiment, Bannerjee added. Tata Consultancy Services gained 6.7% after 1Q net profit rose 8.7% on year. Infosys added 3.6% and HCL Technologies was 3.2% higher. Among decliners, Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.0%, while Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank lost 0.8% each.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. rose Friday, as the FTSE 100 Index gained 0.4% to 8,252.91.

Among large companies, Jet2 PLC was the biggest gainer during the session, surging 5.3%, and Genus PLC surged 4.5%. Alphawave IP Group PLC rounded out the top three movers on Friday, as shares gained 4.3%.

GlobalData PLC posted the largest decline, falling 4.6%, followed by shares of Dowlais Group PLC, which fell 3.5%. Shares of United Utilities Group PLC fell 3.4%.

In other parts of Europe markets closed higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index up 0.9% at 524.08, Germany's DAX added 1.2% to 18,748.18 and France's CAC 40 gaining 1.3% to 7,724.32.

North America

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 40,000 for just the second time Friday, with investors packing up for the weekend feeling confident that a rate cut is around the corner.

The blue-chip index rose 0.6% to just above 40,000, after closing past that threshold for the first time in May. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each climbed 0.6%, and all three indexes logged weekly gains.

The buoyant finish to the week came after data showing a continued cool-down in consumer inflation on Thursday, which sparked a stock market rotation into this year's laggards. Traders kept up some of their moves Friday, with the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks advancing to notch a weekly gain of 6%, its best weekly performance since November.

The S&P 500's real-estate sector also rose to end the week with a 4.4% gain, but it remained the index's only segment that is down for the year.

With the closely watched consumer-price index continuing to ease, investors are betting on sectors that stand to benefit from lower rates. That was despite new data Friday showing a pickup in producer prices.

"There's absolutely no question that the Fed will end up cutting by the end of the year. And there's nothing that happened today that would change that," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates steady at its meeting later this month, but traders on Friday were pricing in a 94% chance that the central bank will cut interest rates in September, according to CME Group data. That is up from 78% a week ago.

The S&P 500 is up 18% for the year, with 10 of its 11 sectors now in the green.

One downbeat corner of the market Friday: Investors weren't happy with the first slate of earnings from big banks, which are still being pressured by high rates.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 1.2% after it posted a lower profit, excluding one-time items. Wells Fargo shares tumbled 6% after it dimmed its outlook for the year. Citigroup's profit rose, but the bank set aside more provisions for potential losses in its credit card business. Its shares declined 1.8%.

Heading into the earnings season, investors have high expectations. Overall, companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report a fourth straight quarter of earnings growth, with profits projected to have climbed 8.8% from last year's second quarter, according to FactSet. That would mark the biggest increase since the first quarter of 2022.

"These expectations are rising at the same time that we are seeing some softer economic data," said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. "Because the bar is elevated, we're just not seeing the stocks get rewarded even when they're seeing these decent results."

Financial stocks more broadly outperformed. The S&P 500 financials sector index was within striking distance of a fresh record, with shares of Bank of New York Mellon and State Street surging 5.2% and 2.7%, respectively.

Treasury yields were broadly steady, with the 10-year yield slipping to 4.187% on Friday. It had dropped Thursday to settle at 4.192% after the inflation data boosted investors optimism about rate cuts.