U.S. Stocks May Regain Ground After Yesterday’s Downturn

Following the pullback seen over the course of the previous session, stocks may regain ground in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 41 points.

Traders may look to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels, although lingering concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve scaling back stimulus may keep buying interest relatively subdued.

A pullback by the price of crude oil may contribute to initial strength on Wall Street, as the recent spike in prices has added to worries about corporate margins.

Earnings news is also likely to be on traders’ minds, with financial giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM) due to report its third quarter results before the start of trading on Wednesday.

Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) are also due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Labor Department is scheduled to release the results of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for August. Job openings are expected to inch up to 11.0 million in August from 10.9 million in July.

After moving to the upside early in the session, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday. With the downturn on the day, the major averages added to the modest losses posted during last Friday’s session.

The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the session at their worst levels of the day. The Dow slid 250.19 points or 0.7 percent to 34,496.06, the Nasdaq fell 93.34 points or 0.6 percent to 14,486.20 and the S&P 500 dropped 30.15 points or 0.7 percent to 4,361.19.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 0.9 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has fallen by 0.6 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are dipping $0.27 to $80.25 a barrel after jumping $1.17 to $80.52 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after edging down $1.70 to $1,755.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $1.70 to $1,754 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 113.74 yen compared to the 113.31 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.535 compared to yesterday’s $1.1552.