Wall Street Set To Open Higher

On a quiet day of economic announcements, investors might be looking for cues from geopolitical developments on Tuesday.

The housing and regional manufacturing data, as well as minutes of the latest Fed meeting might get attention in the coming days.

The U.S. dollar edged up, while gold traded firm in the Asian trading session. Oil prices moved up.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were up 82.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 22.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 90.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished broadly lower on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 81.13 points or 0.4 percent to 20,026.77, the S&P 500 edged down 0.44 points to 6,114.64 and the narrower Dow fell 165.35 points or 0.4 percent to 44,546.08.

Despite the mixed performance on the day, stocks posted strong gains for the week. The Nasdaq surged by 2.6 percent, the S&P 500 jumped by 1.5 percent and the Dow advanced by 0.6 percent.

On the economic front, the Empire State Manufacturing Index for February will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.5, while it was down 12.6 in January.

The Housing Market Index for February is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 47.0, while it was up 47 in the prior month.

The six-week and 52-week Treasury bill auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

Treasury International Capital for December will be published at 4.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the Net Long-Term Securities Transactions were $79 billion.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.93 percent at 3,324.49. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 1.59 percent to 22,976.81.

Japanese markets eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average rose 0.25 percent to 39,270.40. The broader Topix index settled 0.31 percent higher at 2,775.51.

Australian markets slipped for a second straight session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.66 percent to 8,481. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 0.63 percent at 8,756.70.

European shares are trading mostly higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 19.47 points or 0.24 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 3.86 points or 0.02 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 14.51 points or 0.17 percent. The Swiss Market Index is declining 19.50 points or 0.15 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.15 percent.

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