Futures slightly higher after Dow's record run

[August 07, 2017]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Monday, building on a stellar run by the Dow industrials, which posted its eighth straight record closing high last week.

* Dow's record run was powered by a robust July employment report on Friday that showed U.S. employers added more jobs than expected in the month.

* The report is likely to clear the way for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start shrinking its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio in September, and could strengthen its case to raise rates for the third time this year in December.

* Meanwhile, investors will continue to closely track the second-quarter earnings season to see if pricey valuations are justified.

* Analysts, on average, expect S&P 500 earnings to have grown 12 percent in the second quarter and they project earnings up 9.3 percent for the September quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

* The S&P 500 has risen about 11 percent in 2017 despite investors losing confidence in President Donald Trump's ability to legislate his pro-growth agenda of tax cuts and infrastructure spending this year.

* The index is trading at 18 times expected earnings, compared to its 10-year average of 14, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

* Fed speakers scheduled to make appearances later on Monday include St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari.

* Oil prices edged lower on Monday, sliding away from nine-week highs, as worries lingered over high production from OPEC and the United States.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

* Global markets seemed to largely shrug off news over the weekend that the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to end its nuclear program.

* Shares of United Technologies were down 1.23 percent in premarket trading following a report that the company has submitted an offer to buy aircraft component manufacturer Rockwell Collins  Rockwell was up 7.98 percent.

* Tesla edged up 0.26 percent after the electric car maker said it plans to raise about $1.5 billion in a bond offering.

Futures snapshot at 7:10 a.m. ET (1110 GMT):

* Dow e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.15 percent, with 13,064 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.25 points, or 0.09 percent, with 85,693 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.12 percent, on volume of 16,846 contracts.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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