After showing a strong move to the upside last week, stocks may give back some ground in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 20 points.
Profit taking is likely to contribute to any early weakness on the day, as some traders may look to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.
Last week's gains lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq rose to another twelve-year high.
Nonetheless, selling pressure is likely to be relatively subdued following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected increase in retail sales in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said retail sales inched up by 0.1 percent in April following a revised 0.5 percent decrease in March.
The modest increase in sales surprised economists, who had expected sales to dip by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
James Knightley, senior economist at ING, said, "This is an encouraging outcome and given the decent labor market data of late, offers some hope that the U.S. 'soft patch' may be short-lived."
Not long after the open, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on business inventories in the month of March. Economists expect inventories to increase by 0.3 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.