Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after moving notably higher over the past several sessions.

Traders may take a breather to assess the recent rally on Wall Street, which has lifted the major averages to new record highs following former President Donald Trump’s decisive victory in last week’s presidential election.

Trump’s return to the White House is expected to be positive for corporations and the U.S. economy, although there are some concerns about the effect planned tariff increases will have on inflation.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched reports in the coming days.

A highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation is due to be released on Wednesday, while reports on producer price inflation, retail sales and industrial production are likely to attract attention later in the week.

U.S. stocks closed on a firm note on Monday, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record highs, even as the Nasdaq settled flat as technology stocks turned in a subdued performance.

Investors remained optimistic that Donald Trump’s policies such as tax reductions and deregulation would help boost corporate earnings.

The volume of business was somewhat thin in the absence of economic data, and due to a lack of significant triggers. Over the next few days, reports on consumer and producer price inflation are likely to attract attention along with reports on retail sales and industrial production this week.

The Dow, which climbed to 44,486.70, subsequently gave up some gains but stayed firm throughout the session to settle at 44,293.13, up 304.14 points or 0.7 percent from previous close. The S&P 500 closed up 5.81 points or 0.1 percent at 6,001.35, after having advanced to a new high at 6,017.31. The Nasdaq, which spent much of the day’s session in negative territory, eked out a small gain of 11.99 points or 0.1 percent, settling at 19,298.76.

Tesla surged about 9 percent. Salesforce jumped more than 6 percent. PayPal rallied 4.7 percent. Starbucks closed up 3.2 percent and Airbnb gained 2.7 percent.

American Express, Goldman Sachs, United Health, JPMorgan Chase, Walt Disney, Alphabet, Home Depot, Mastercard, Cisco, Visa, Bank of America, Netflix and Nike gained 1 to 2.5 percent.

Apple Inc., Analog Devices, Micron Technology and Intel closed weak. Moderna tumbled about 7 percent. Merck, Boeing, Nvidia, Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft also ended notably lower.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.56 to $68.60 a barrel after plunging $2.34 to $68.04 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after plummeting $77.10 to $2,617.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $0.90 to $2,618.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.33 yen compared to the 153.72 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0619 compared to yesterday’s $1.0655.

Asia

Asian stocks slipped into the red on Tuesday, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets leading losses, as investors await U.S. President-elect Trump’s stance on the economy, immigration, foreign policy and more.

Gold lingered near a one-month low on dollar strength amid expectations that U.S. interest rates will stay higher for longer. Oil extended declines for a third day running on a soft demand outlook in China.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.4 percent to 3,421.97 and the yuan slumped on fears of worsening Sino-U.S. tensions after multiple media outlets reported that Trump is likely to appoint two men with track records of harshly criticizing China for key positions in his new administration.

It was said that Trump would appoint pro-India Congressman Michael Waltz as his National Security Adviser and foreign policy hardliner Marco Rubio as Secretary of State to prioritize U.S.-India relations and counter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.84 percent to 19,846.88 despite reports that China is looking to slash taxes on home purchases to help revive a moribund housing market.

Japanese markets turned in a mixed performance a day after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged more than $65 billion of support for the nation’s semiconductor and artificial intelligence sector over the next decade.

The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 0.4 percent to 39,376.09, while the broader Topix Index finished marginally higher at 2,741.52.

While banks and automakers topped the gainers list, Tokyo Electron fell 2.8 percent and SoftBank Group dipped 1.1 percent ahead of their earnings released after the market close.

Seoul stocks fell sharply, with the Kospi closing down 1.9 percent at 2,482.57. Samsung Electronics gave up 3.6 percent and SK Hynix declined 3.5 percent after reports emerged that the U.S. has ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) to halt shipments of advanced chips to China.

Australian markets ended slightly lower, dragged down by mining and energy stocks as stimulus efforts in China failed to meet expectations.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 8,255.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index finished marginally lower at 8,515.20.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index rose half a percent to 12,749.36.

Europe

European stocks traded lower on Tuesday after reports emerged that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will appoint Michael Waltz as his National Security Adviser and Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, indicating hard-line positions on China, Iran and Venezuela.

Meanwhile, according to data provider DDHQ, Trump’s Republican Party won a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, signaling a majority for Republicans in both chambers of Congress.

It is feared that Trump’s aggressive tariff hikes could fuel inflation and stop the Fed from cutting rates. Tariffs also carry the risk of retaliation from major trading partners.

On the economic front, the focus remains on U.S. consumer price inflation data on Wednesday, and a slew of speeches by Federal Reserve officials this week, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday.

While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.5 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.0 percent.

In corporate news, German chemicals giant Bayer has plunged after cutting its full-year operating earnings guidance.

Chipmaker Infineon has also moved to the downside after reducing its sales forecast for the fiscal year 2025.

Vodafone shares have also slumped after the British telecoms group suffered falling revenue in its biggest market Germany.

Meanwhile, sales and marketing services provider DCC has soared as it announced plans to sell its healthcare division and review “strategic options” for its technology business.

U.S. Economic News

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to participate in the Yahoo Finance Invest 2024 “New Challenges, New Opportunities” conference at 2 pm ET.

At 5 pm ET, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker is due to speak on “Fintech, AI and the Changing Financial Landscape” before the Carnegie Mellon University Lecture Series.