Futures Pointing To Modestly Higher Open On Wall Street

Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the gains posted in the two previous sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

The markets may benefit from a continued advance by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), which are jumping by 2.2 percent in pre-market trading after surging by 3.4 percent to a record closing high on Monday.

During the CES in Las Vegas, Nvidia unveiled its latest line of consumer GPUs, the GeForce RTX 50 Series, for both desktop and laptop platforms.

Early buying interest may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of some key U.S. economic data in the coming days.

On Friday, the Labor Department is due to release its closely watched monthly jobs report, which is expected to show employment increased by 160,000 jobs in December after jumping by 227,000 jobs in November.

Reports on private sector employment and consumer sentiment are also likely to attract attention along with the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

Shortly after the start of trading, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of December.

The ISM’s services PMI is expected to inch up to 53.0 in December from 52.1 in November, with a reading above 50 indicating growth.

The Labor Department is also due to release its report on job openings in the month of November. Job openings are expected to dip to 7.70 million in November from 7.74 million in October.

Stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Monday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, although the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory.

The Nasdaq jumped 243.30 points or 1.2 percent to 19,864.90 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.91 points or 0.6 percent to 5,975.38. The narrower Dow, on the other hand, edged down 25.57 points or 0.1 percent to 42,706.56.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.0 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.7 percent, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the uptrend and slumped by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.7 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $0.43 to $73.99 a barrel after falling $0.40 to $73.56 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after slipping $7.30 to $2,647.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $27.40 to $2,674.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.64 yen compared to the 157.62 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0398 compared to yesterday’s $1.0390.