Amid expectations of upcoming rate hikes, the dollar has broken into positive territory for the year. The move higher comes ahead of this week's Fed meeting and jobs report, two events that are likely to define its near-term fate. May Day holidays in many centers across Asia and Europe also meant trading was sparser than usual overnight, although the "Sell in May" theme seemed to hit traders in the U.S., with stock index futures dipping ahead of the bell.

Economy

The Trump administration is delaying a decision about whether to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on the EU, Canada and Mexico until June 1, giving key allies a reprieve as the countries carry out further negotiations. The Iran deal is also on watch. Crude prices rose Monday after Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu made a presentation claiming Tehran was lying about its nuclear capabilities, raising expectations the U.S would pull out of the accord.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is unconcerned about the bond market's ability to absorb rising government debt after his department said it borrowed a record amount for the first quarter. "By definition supply and demand will equate," he told Bloomberg TV. Net borrowing totaled $488B, exceeding the old record of $483B in Q1 of 2010, a period when the U.S. was struggling to pull out of the financial crisis.

In a decision that surprised no one, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept benchmark rates at 1.5% for a 21st successive month, the longest spell of inactivity since 1990. Inflation is expected to remain muted even as the "Australian economy remains for growth to pick up, to average a bit above 3% in 2018 and 2019," RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement.

Britain has drafted a new template for how it can avoid a hard land border in Ireland ahead of tomorrow's Brexit negotiations. The preferred solution - known as Option A - would use a sweeping new free-trade agreement and customs deal with the EU to avoid the need for tariffs and goods checks at the border. Option B would use technological solutions and "trusted trader" schemes.

Fulfilling a promise made at last week's historic summit, North and South Korea have begun dismantling the loudspeakers that blared propaganda across their heavily fortified border since the 1960s. The incremental steps come before an upcoming summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump, which the latter expressed could ideally take place at the Peace House in the demilitarized zone.

Stocks

BP +0.5% premarket as underlying replacement cost profit surged 71% to $2.6B in Q1, driven by a recovery in oil and gas prices and rapid growth in output. BP's first-quarter production rose to 3.7M barrels per day, up 6% from the period a year ago, with a nearly 25% rise in oil prices over the past year lifting revenue for oil companies.

Confirming earlier reports, Boeing (NYSE:BA) said it will buy aerospace parts company KLX (NASDAQ:KLXI) for an enterprise value of $4.25B, but the deal is contingent upon the successful divestment of its Energy Services Group business. More acquisitions? Boeing has reportedly held talks with parts maker Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) and is in discussions about a joint venture with Embraer's (NYSE:ERJ) commercial jets. KLXI -5% premarket.

Monthly auto sales this morning won't include numbers from General Motors (NYSE:GM) as the carmaker ditches the figures in favor of quarterly reporting. GM posits that the industry would be better off without the monthly reading as the cutthroat nature of the auto business contributes to short-term fluctuations that aren't indicative of legitimate trends.

As the closely watched "vertical merger" case wrapped up in court, Judge Richard Leon indicated that he could be considering a decision that wasn’t a clear approval or blocking of AT&T's (NYSE:T) Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) deal. He asked about the possibility of imposing a remedy, like saying the $85B acquisition could go forward if the companies sell a particular asset. A decision should come on June 12.

Bitcoin has "elements of all of the different asset classes," according to CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, stating that the popular cryptocurrency is part currency, part security and part digital coin. "At the end of the day, it's for Congress, and not regulators, to decide whether new policies should be evolved for these new asset classes... I don’t see it being resolved any time soon."

Twitter has announced more than 30 new partnerships, bringing original shows from NBCUniversal (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Disney (NYSE:DIS), Viacom (NYSE:VIA) and others to its platform. Daily video views have doubled over the past year and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) hopes the premium programming will attract new advertisers and audiences.

Amid reported clashes with parent Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) over strategy and its approach to personal data, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum is exiting his role as Facebook director and CEO of WhatsApp. The move follows the departure last year of fellow WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, who has since been publicly critical of the social media giant. Facebook bought WhatsApp for $22B in 2014.

Investors and analysts are making some final predictions ahead of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings report today, which could feature light iPhone sales and a record-breaking capital allocation announcement. "[Apple] still enjoys the biggest weighting in both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 and therefore wields tremendous influence over the broader price action," declared Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities.

Monday's Key Earnings

Allergan (NYSE:AGN) -5.2% opposing a fundamental strategy shift.
Arconic (NYSE:ARNC) -20.6% slashing earnings forecasts.
Enterprise Products (NYSE:EPD) +1.6% on record distributable cash flow.
McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) +5.8% with strong comparable sales.
Transocean (NYSE:RIG) -3% AH reporting a Q1 loss.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan -0.2%. Hong Kong closed. China closed. India closed.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.5%. Paris closed. Frankfurt closed.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.2%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.2%. Crude -1% to $67.92. Gold -0.8% to $1309.10. Bitcoin -2.4% to $9021.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +2 bps to 2.96%

Today's Economic Calendar

FOMC meeting begins
Auto Sales
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending