U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction In Early Trading

After trending higher over the past few sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.

Lingering uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s tariff plans may key some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of some key U.S. economic data in the coming days.

Trump said during an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday that new tariffs would “probably be more lenient than reciprocal,” because reciprocal tariffs would be “very tough for people.”

However, while Trump also said there would be exceptions to the tariffs, he noted there would be “not too many exceptions.”

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred consumer price inflation readings on Friday.

The futures remained little unchanged even after the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.9 percent in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.3 in January.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent compared to the previously reported 3.2 percent surge.

Excluding a jump by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 0.7 percent in February after inching up by 0.1 percent in January. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

Following the rally seen during Monday’s session, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in positive territory for the third straight day.

The Nasdaq climbed 83.26 points or 0.5 percent to 18,271.86, the S&P 500 rose 9.08 points or 0.2 percent to 5,776.65 and the Dow inched up 4.18 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 42,587.50.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.53 to $69.53 a barrel after slipping $0.11 to $69 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,032.90, up $7 compared to the previous session’s close of $3,025.90. On Tuesday, gold rose $10.30.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 150.20 yen compared to the 149.91 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0787 compared to yesterday’s $1.0791.