U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Downside In Early Trading

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside after ending the previous session mostly higher.

U.S. stocks settled firmly in positive territory on Monday despite seeing some wild swings during the course of the day’s session.

The major averages all closed notably higher. The Dow settled with a gain of 213.18 points or 0.62 percent at 3,560.08. The S&P 500 ended up 27.57 points or 0.63 percent at 4,433.28, while the Nasdaq climbed 114.48 points or 0.84 percent at 13,705.13.

Shares of 3M Co. gained more than 5 percent. The stock rallied after a report from Bloomberg News said the company tentatively agreed to resolve more than 330,000 lawsuits related to its defective earplugs.

Goldman Sachs gained about 1.8 percent. Wells Fargo shares climbed 1.6 percent, while American Express and Citigroup posted modest gains.

Meta Platforms moved up 1.7 percent. Alphabet and Apple both advanced nearly 1 percent. Microsoft ended marginally up.

Boeing gained 1.8 percent. Nvidia shares climbed about 1.8 percent. Tesla gained nearly 1 percent.

Intel, Salesforce.com, Walt Disney, Home Depot, Nike, Honeywell International, Caterpillar, Chevron and Verizon ended higher by 0.6 to 1.2 percent.

Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Walgreens Boots Alliance ended lower by 0.8 to 1.2 percent.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are advancing $0.46 to $80.56 a barrel after rising $0.27 to $80.10 barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after climbing $6.90 to $1,946.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $3.10 to $1,943.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.21 yen compared to the 146.54 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0795 compared to yesterday’s $1.0819.

Asia

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday amid positive sentiment stemming from Fed pause hopes and Chinese stimulus measures.

Markets looked ahead to a raft of key economic readings from the U.S. and China this week for additional clues on the rate and economic outlook.

Chinese shares climbed on expectations that policymakers will unveil more supportive measures to support the sputtering economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rose 1.20 percent to 3,135.89 ahead of the release of official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data from China for August later this week.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.95 percent to 18,484.03, with tech and real estate stocks pacing the gainers.

Property developer Country Garden soared 12.4 percent after its first-half results showed some improvement in some key performance ratios.

Electric vehicle maker BYD jumped 4.8 percent after its profit for the first six months of 2023 tripled.

Japanese shares edged up slightly as the yen continued to weaken in quiet trade. The Nikkei average edged up 0.18 percent to 32,226.97 while the broader Topix index settled 0.16 percent higher at 2,303.41.

Tokyo Electric Power surged 5.3 percent after no abnormalities were detected in seawater samples taken from around its crippled coastal Fukushima nuclear complex.

Automaker Toyota Motor ended a choppy session slightly lower after suspending production at 12 factories due to a system failure.

Investors shrugged off data showing that Japan’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in four months in July.

Seoul stocks eked out modest gains, with the Kospi average rising 0.34 percent to 2,552.16 ahead of key economic data, including U.S. GDP and unemployment and the China manufacturing PMI, due to be released this week.

Australian markets closed notably higher as miners surged on hopes of more stimulus out of China. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 0.71 percent to 7,210.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.69 percent higher at 7,416.40.

Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto gained over 1 percent each while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group jumped 3.2 percent.

lithium player Mineral Resources soared 8 percent after boosting its total dividend by 90 percent.

Tyro Payments jumped 14.7 percent after delivering record annual earnings. EML Payments soared 31.5 percent after earnings beat guidance.

Europe

European stocks rose on Tuesday, with hopes for more policy support from top consumer China and Fed pause hopes helping underpin investor sentiment.

Euro zone bond yields slipped ahead of data on U.S. job openings that might provide additional clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate trajectory.

Investors also await Chinese PMI data and readings on U.S. inflation, GDP and nonfarm payrolls this week for further clarity on the global economic outlook.

Meanwhile, consumer sentiment in Germany is set to erode in September as both income and economic expectations of households weakened, survey results from the market research firm GfK showed earlier today.

The forward-looking consumer confidence index fell to -25.5 for September from a revised -24.6 in August. Economists had forecast a reading of -24.3.

Elsewhere, sentiment among the French consumers was unchanged for the second month in a row in August as their expectations regarding the future financial situation and standard of living weakened, and unemployment fears increased, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed.

The consumer confidence index held steady at 85, where it has been since June. The outcome was in line with economists’ expectations.

The score remained well below its long-term average of 100 logged between January 1987 and December 2022.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose half a percent to 457.76 after climbing 0.9 percent on Monday. The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.2 percent.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 1.4 percent as traders returned to their desks after the Late Summer Bank Holiday.

Higher copper prices and a weaker dollar boosted mining stocks, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all rising around 2 percent.

Oil & gas giant BP Plc jumped 2.6 percent and Shell added 1.4 percent as oil prices held steady despite growing concerns over fuel demand.

Bunzl climbed 3.5 percent after the business supplies distributor said it expects its adjusted operating profit for 2023 to be moderately higher than 2022 at constant exchange rates.

Lender Standard Chartered rose 1.2 percent after it agreed to sell its global aviation finance leasing business.

Technip Energies N.V., an engineering and technology company, rose about 1 percent in Paris.

The company announced that it has been awarded a contract by bp for a hydrogen production unit at its Kwinana biorefinery in Western Australia for undisclosed sum.

German drug discovery and development company Evotec AG edged up slightly after narrowing its Q2 loss.

Dutch insurer NN Group jumped nearly 10 percent after the Group’s solvency improved in the first six months of 2023.

U.S. Economic Reports

Standard & Poor’s is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of June at 9 am ET.

At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of August. The consumer confidence index is expected to edge down to 116.5 in August from 117.0 in July.

The Labor Department is also scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of July at 10 am ET. Job openings are expected to slip to 9.5 million in July from 9.6 million in June.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $36 billion worth of seven-year notes.