U.S. Stocks May See Further Upside In Early Trading

Stocks are likely to move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.

The markets may continue to benefit from optimism President Donald Trump plans to take a more narrow approach to new tariffs.

Trump said at an event on Monday that he “may give a lot of countries breaks” on reciprocal tariffs that are set to take effect April 2nd.

However, Trump also said he plans to impose tariffs on the automotive and pharmaceutical industries in the “very near future” and later added the lumber and semiconductor industries to his list of targets.

The president has recently made many conflicting remarks about his tariffs plans, leading to considerable uncertainty on Wall Street.

Shortly after the start of trading, The Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of February. New home sales are expected to climb to an annual rate of 680,000 in February after plunging to a rate of 657,000 in January.

The Conference Board is also due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of March. The consumer confidence index is expected to slump to 94.2 in March after tumbling to 98.3 in February.

Stocks turned in a strong performance on Monday, with the technology sector posting more pronounced gains. The markets stayed positive as the mood remained bullish throughout the day.

The major averages all closed on a high note. The Dow settled higher by 597.97 points or 1.4 percent, at 42,583.32. The S&P 500 closed up 100.01 points or 1.8 percent, at 5,767.57, while the Nasdaq ended stronger by 404.54 points or 2.3 percent, at 18,188.59.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.3 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.48 to $69.59 a barrel after jumping $0.83 to $69.11 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after edging down $5.80 to $3,015.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $5.80 to $3,021.40 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 150.00 yen compared to the 150.70 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0817 compared to yesterday’s $1.0801.