US pre-open: Futures rise with Apple and Tesla in the spotlight

US stock futures headed higher on Monday morning, taking their cues from European indices, ahead of a raft of key economic data later in the week.

By 0633 ET, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5%, helped by gains from blue chips Apple and Tesla.

European stocks were being helped higher on Monday by data from China, which showed that the world's second-largest economy move away from deflation territory last month. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1% year-on-year in August, compared with a 0.3% decline in July.

Markets in London, in particular, were being lifted by the news as heavyweight mining stocks rose. "The reading, which emerged over the weekend, implies an improvement in the commodities demand picture and in turn provides a boost to the resources sector," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

US inflation, ECB meeting in focus

US markets slipped last week – the S&P 500 fell 1.3% on the whole – as surging bond yields and oil prices raised concerns about inflationary pressures.

Investors will now be looking ahead to the US CPI due out on Wednesday, which is expected to show that prices rose 0.5% in August after a 0.2% gain in July, though core inflation is expected to have held stable at 0.2% month-on-month.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank meets on Thursday and is expected to hold rates steady, while the Federal Reserve meets next week.

"This week sees a raft of market-moving data releases, with US inflation and the ECB meeting expected to provide plenty of volatility given the shifting interest rate expectations in recent weeks," said analyst Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets.

"Energy prices are becoming increasingly important as a driver of inflation expectations, and OPEC+ are expected to continue their assault on the world’s disinflation efforts as they seek to drive up prices through output restrictions. The recent positive correlation between the dollar and energy prices serve to highlight the risk posed by higher energy prices."

After strong gains over the past few days, Brent crude was trading 0.4% lower at $90.26 a barrel on Monday morning, while the US Dollar Index fell 0.4%. Meanwhile, the yield on a 10-year US Treasury was up 2.5 basis points at 4.296%.

Heavyweights Apple and Tesla make headlines

Apple futures were higher ahead of its closely watched Wonderlust event on Tuesday, amid what is typically the US tech giant's strongest quarter of each year. Shares fell 6% last week on reports that China is banning government officials and state agency employees from using iPhones at work.

Rumours point to the possible launch of a new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch series 9, according to Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. A new standard iPad with upgraded chipsets is also likely, alongside the new USB-C charging connector, and a possible update on the VisionPro headset.

Tesla was rising strongly in pre-market trade after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded their stance on the shares to 'overweight'. The bank said that Dojo, Tesla's custom supercomputing product that's been in the works for the past five years, could add "up to $500bn" to Tesla's enterprise value. It hiked its target price for the stock from $250 to $400.