Investing.com - Wall Street futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Monday in what would suggest a fifth consecutive day of gains for the S&P 500 in a session with few scheduled references as investors focused on the latest monthly report from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC) while keeping their eyes on President Donald Trump’s meetings with world leaders.
The blue-chip Dow futures gained 49 points, or 0.24%, by 7:15AM ET (12:15GMT), the S&P 500 futures advanced 3 points, or 0.15%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 6 points, or 0.12%.
Following on from Friday's record high closes on Wall Street, Asian stocks rallied to one-and-a-half-year peaks while European stocks rose for the fifth consecutive session on Monday, their longest winning stretch for two months.
Investors were comforted by the two-day U.S.-Japan summit held over the weekend apparently having ended smoothly without Trump talking tough on trade, currency and security issues.
On Monday, trade deals would remain in focus as Trump was set to meet up with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in their first face-to-face since the U.S. President pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
A joint press conference was scheduled after their meeting and lunch at 2:00PM ET (19:00GMT).
In a session with no major U.S. economic releases, OPEC’s first monthly report since major oil producers began cutting their production showed that, according to secondary sources, the cartel’s oil production decreased by 890,200 barrels per day to average 32.14 million barrels per day.
According to a Reuters’ calculation, OPEC members achieved 93% of the pledged 1.16 million cut.
At the same time, OPEC increased its forecast for world oil demand growth by 35,000 barrels per day to 1.19 million barrels per day in 2017.
Oil pared losses after the report, with U.S. crude futures trading down 0.32% at $53.68 by 7:16AM ET (12:16GMT), compared to $53.48 before the release and Brent oil exchanging hands at $56.47, compared to $56.27 earlier.
Despite the compliance with the production cuts, market participants remained concerned about the ramp up in U.S. drilling activity. Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by 8 last week, the 14th gain in 15 weeks.
That brought the total count to 591, the most since October 2015, underlining concerns that the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand.