S&P futures sustained their upward trajectory on Monday, building on a robust week for Wall Street that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average to unprecedented levels. Futures associated with the 30-stock benchmark increased by 56 points, representing a 0.11% rise. S&P 500 futures increased by 0.43%, whereas Nasdaq-100 futures rose by 0.97%, as markets gear up to resume trading for a new week after the U.S. Independence Day holiday on Friday. The Dow climbed nearly 2% last week, positioning it within striking distance of 53,000, a level it has never reached. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite recorded significant increases last week, rising by 1.8% and 2.1%, respectively.

Those gains materialised despite a recent downturn in semiconductors — a key driver of many market advancements this year — as investors reduced their exposure to chipmakers and shifted their focus to other sectors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF shed 3.2%, marking its second consecutive week of losses. “The broadening in sector rotation is a significant positive, with Financials, Healthcare, and Industrials all closing at new weekly all-time highs this week, more than offsetting the consolidation in Semis,” wrote Mark Newton. “While the Semi decline represents a temporary obstacle that may encourage investment in other sectors during its adjustment, it has not impacted the overall performance of the broader indices.”

Newton anticipates that the S&P 500 will attain a level of 8,000 by mid-August. The benchmark closed last week at 7,483.24, approximately 7% beneath the 8,000 threshold. Traders this week will focus on the Federal Reserve, as the minutes from the June meeting — the inaugural session under new Chairman Kevin Warsh — are set to be released on Wednesday. European stock markets experienced an uptick in early trading, with the pan-continental Stoxx 600 hovering just below 0.1% at 10:00 a.m. in London. Media stocks demonstrated strong performance, increasing by 1.41%, following the announcement that Comcast-owned Sky will acquire the media and entertainment division of U.K. broadcaster ITV. Concurrently, European travel and leisure stocks rose by 1.01% as U.K. carrier EasyJet entered into a $7.3 billion takeover agreement with Castlelake.

Asia-Pacific concluded the trading session on Monday with a varied performance. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed with minimal fluctuations, whereas the broader Topix experienced an increase of 0.92%. South Korea’s Kospi declined by 0.46%, while the small-cap Kosdaq experienced a significant drop of 2.46%. Australia’s benchmark index experienced a decline of 0.15%, concluding the trading session at 8,831.00. China’s CSI 300 concluded the trading session unchanged at 4,842, whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was observed trading 0.81% higher. The Japanese yen was trading at 162.24 per U.S. dollar after weakening to a 40-year low against the greenback last week. South Korea’s won experienced a depreciation of approximately 0.29%, settling at 1533.45 per dollar following the initiation of 24-hour trading.