Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after ending yesterday’s lackluster session modestly higher.

Traders may remain reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

Recent economic data has tamped down expectations of a near-term rate cut, with the central bank now seen as likely to leave rates unchanged until at least September.

Among individual stocks, shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the drugmaker reported better than expected first quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Industrial conglomerate 3M (MMM) is also seeing significant pre-market strength after reporting first quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

On the other hand, shares of McDonald’s (MCD) may move to the downside after the fast food giant reported first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola (KO) is also seeing modest pre-market weakness despite reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Following the strong upward move seen last week, stocks managed to see further upside during trading on Monday. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session but ended the day in positive territory.

The Dow rose 146.43 points or 0.4 percent to38389.09, the Nasdaq climbed 55.18 points or 0.4 percent to 15983.08 and the S&P 500 advanced 16.21 points or 0.3 percent to 5,116.17.

The modestly higher close on Wall Street came as stocks continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen last week, which came amid a positive reaction to upbeat tech earnings.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) skyrocketed by 15.3 percent after the electric vehicle maker said local Chinese authorities removed restrictions on its cars,

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Traders may also have been sticking to the sidelines ahead of the release of an avalanche of earnings news this week along with the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report.

Tobacco stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.5 percent.

Considerable strength was also visible among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Utilities average

Biotechnology, telecom and commercial real estate stocks also saw notable strength, while most of the other major sectors showed only modest moves.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $83.11 a barrel after plunging $1.22 to $82.63 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after climbing $10.50 to $2,357.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $37.20 to $2,320.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.17 yen compared to the 156.35 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0699 compared to yesterday’s $1.0721.

Asia

Asian stocks rose broadly on Tuesday, with Chinese markets underperforming after the release of mixed PMI data.

The dollar rose against its major peers ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement on Wednesday.

Gold prices slipped in Asian trading, while oil was little changed after falling sharply on Monday amid talks on a potential ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Chinese stocks ended lower after a mixed batch of business activity readings.

While a private survey painted a rosier picture of the manufacturing sector, official surveys revealed that manufacturing and services activity both expanded at a slower pace in April.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.3 percent to 3,104.82.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished marginally higher at 17,763.03 amid buzz that yuan devaluation could be on the cards to make the Chinese economy more competitive.

Japanese markets led regional gains as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.2 percent to 38,405.66 as the U.S. dollar rose to the upper 156-yen range after seeing sharp gains the previous day on suspected intervention by authorities in the currency markets.

The broader Topix Index surged 2.1 percent to 2,743.17 as government data showed Japanese factory output grew more than expected in March.

Japan’s retail sales grew substantially less than expected in March, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous month at 2.6 percent, separate data showed.

Seoul stocks edged up slightly even as monthly activity data pointed to a patchy economic recovery. The Kospi inched up 0.2 percent to 2,692.06.

Samsung Electronics rose over 1 percent after the world’s largest memory chip maker said operating profit jumped 932.8 percent in the first quarter ending March, reflecting the global AI development boom.

Australian markets eked out modest gains as disappointing retail sales data pushed back fears of imminent rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 percent to 7,664.10, while the broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.3 percent higher at 7,932. Banks ended mostly higher ahead of trading updates in early May.

Azure Minerals soared 8.2 percent as a takeover offer for the company by SH Mining progressed with a key approval received from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P NZX-50 Index edged up 0.4 percent, to 11,957.50.

Europe

European stocks were subdued on Tuesday as investors look forward to the Federal Reserve providing an update on when interest rates might be cut.

The downside remained capped as preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that the euro area economy expanded in the first quarter after two consecutive declines.

Gross domestic product grew by more-than-expected 0.3 percent on quarter following a 0.1 percent fall each in the fourth and third quarters of 2023. Thus, the economy recovered from a recession.

The German economy also avoided recession in the first quarter, with GDP growing more-than-expected 0.2 percent sequentially in the first quarter, in contrast to the revised 0.5 percent decrease in the preceding period.

Meanwhile, headline inflation in the euro area came in at 2.4 percent in April, matching forecasts. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.6 percent.

The French CAC 40 Index is down 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent on the back of impressive earnings updates from the likes of HSBC and Hargreaves and central bank data showing that the number of mortgages approved by British lenders rose to an 18-month high in March.

In corporate news, Stellantis NV fell 2.2 percent after the Franco-Italian carmaker reported a 12 percent decline in revenue in the first quarter.

Computer parts maker Logitech soared 7.8 percent after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

HSBC Holdings jumped 3.6 percent in London after the bank said it would shortly begin buying back an additional $3 billion of its shares.

Glencore fell about 1 percent after reporting declines in first-quarter copper and coal output.

Prudential slumped 5 percent after the insurer’s annual premium equivalent sales for CITIC Prudential Life, its Chinese Mainland JV, fell 17 percent in Q1.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread rallied 2.8 percent after it announced plans to axe around 1,500 U.K. jobs.

Hargreaves Lansdown surged 5.7 percent. The financial services business revealed its AuM levels increased by £7.5billion to a record £149.7billion between January and the end of March.

Airline Air France-KLM tumbled 3.4 percent in Paris after operating loss deepened in the first quarter of 2024.

Electrical supplies distributor Rexel dropped 2.8 percent after Q1 sales came in below expectation.

Vonovia surged 4.6 percent. The German real estate group confirmed its full-year outlook despite a drop in earnings.

Volkswagen dropped 2 percent. The automaker said its operating profit dropped by 20 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding period last year.

Mercedes-Benz tumbled 3.8 percent as the luxury carmaker reported a 30 percent annual fall in first-quarter earnings before interest and tax.

Sportswear giant Adidas gave up 1.6 percent after backing its recently upgraded FY24 outlook.

U.S. Economic Reports

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

At 9:45 pm ET, MNI Indicators is due to release its report on Chicago-area business activity in the month of April. The Chicago business barometer is expected to rise to 44.9 in April from 41.4 in March, but a reading below 50 would still indicate contraction.

The Conference Board is scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of April at 10 am ET. The consumer confidence index is expected to edge down to 104.0 in April from 104.7 in March.