U.S. stock futures gained ground Monday, the first trading day of August, after the S&P 500 logged its sixth straight monthly gain in July. While dropping Friday and last week, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average headed into the new month less than 1% away from their latest record high closes last Monday. The Nasdaq also fell Friday and last week, but remained just over 1% shy of last Monday’s record close. Volatility has recently increased as Covid cases in the U.S. spiked higher due to the delta variant. The 10-year Treasury yield was steady Monday, around 1.23%. The yield, which moves inversely to price, hit a 5½-month low of nearly 1.13% last month.