Stock market today: US stocks rise ahead of big week for economic data

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

• US stocks kicked off the week with a slight gain on Monday as investors await a deluge of economic data.

• Manufacturing data, job openings and initial claims, and the May jobs report are set to be released throughout the week.

• The median forecast for the number of jobs added to the economy in May is 178,000.

US stocks edged higher on Monday ahead of a busy week of economic data releases.

Investors will sift through manufacturing and services data via the ISM and PMI index releases on Monday and Wednesday.

The state of the jobs market will be in focus as well, with job openings data to be released on Tuesday, initial jobless claims set to be published on Thursday, and the May jobs report scheduled for Friday.

Economists expect 178,000 jobs to have been added to the US economy in May, about in line with the April jobs report.

The sweet spot would be between 125,000 and 175,000 jobs added last month, according to Bank of America, as it would leave the door open for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve without scaring investors about a potential recession.

"Bad news has been good news for equities over the past two months (-78% correlation between the S&P 500 and USD), but if growth deteriorates too much, bad news can turn into bad news," Bank of America said in a note on Monday.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Monday: 

• S&P 500: 5,295.42, up 0.33%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 38,689.02, up 0.02% (+8.23 points)

• Nasdaq composite: 16,863.36, up 0.76%

Here's what else is going on today:

• Cathie Wood's Ark Invest missed out on a $1 billion return by selling more than 1 million shares of Nvidia at prices significantly below its current level.

• Bank of America says its second half of the year trading playbook for investors should include buying the dips in bonds.

• GameStop stock soared after Keith Gill's Reddit account posted a screenshot that suggests he owns more than $100 million worth of the video game retailer.

• Global powers are helping Ukraine by giving it money frozen from Russia. That spells bad news for companies still doing business there.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.53% to $76.58 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was lower by 0.46% to $80.74 a barrel.

• Gold edged higher by 0.39% to $2,355.00 per ounce.

• The 10-year Treasury yield dropped three basis points to 4.46%.

• Bitcoin jumped 2.77% to $69,614.

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