U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading

After coming under pressure over the course of the previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 149 points.

Traders may once again look to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness in the markets.

The drop seen on Monday dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq down to its lowest closing level in over a year, while the S&P 500 finished the day just above the nearly nine-month closing low set last Tuesday.

The markets continue to search for the bottom following the intense selling sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent spike in oil prices.

A continued sharp pullback by the price of crude oil may also generate some buying interest, with crude for April delivery plunging $7.10 to $95.91 a barrel after tumbling $6.32 to $103.01 a barrel on Monday.

Positive sentiment may also be generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices increased by slightly less than expected in the month of February.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.8 percent in February after surging by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in January.

Economists had expected producer prices to advance by 0.9 percent compared to the 1.0 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding prices for food, energy and trade services, core producer prices edged up by 0.2 percent in February following a 0.8 percent increase in January.

The slightly smaller than expected increase in producer prices may ease concerns about inflation ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Monday, adding to the losses posted last week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop on the day, ending the session at its lowest closing level in over a year.

The Nasdaq plunged 262.59 points or 2 percent to 12,581.22, while the S&P 500 slid 31.20 points or 0.7 percent to 4,173.11.

Meanwhile, the narrower Dow turned negative after climbing as much as 450 points but recovered to end the day up 1.05 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 32,945.24.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 5 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plummeted by 5.7 percent, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets have also moved back to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has fallen by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both down by 0.6 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are plunging $7.10 to $95.91 a barrel after plummeting $6.32 to $103.01 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after tumbling $24.20 to $1,960.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are diving $38.30 to $1,922.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 117.80 yen compared to the 118.19 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0990 compared to yesterday’s $1.0940.

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