Walmart Warning Likely To Weigh On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move to the downside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) is likely to weigh on the markets, as the retail giant is plunging by 9.3 percent in pre-market trading.

Walmart is under pressure after lowering its guidance for the second quarter and full year primarily due to pricing actions aimed to improve inventory levels.

Auto giant General Motors (GM) may also move to the downside after reporting second quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

On the other hand, shares of General Electric (GE) are likely to see initial strength after the conglomerate reported second quarter results that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to announce another 75 basis point rate hike as part of its efforts to combat elevated inflation.

U.S. stocks ended on a mixed note on Monday after a choppy session, as investors largely stayed cautious, looking ahead to some key earnings updates, second quarter GDP data and the Fed’s monetary policy announcement.

The Fed, which is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, is widely expected to announce another 75-basis point rate hike. CME Group’s FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 77.5 percent chance of a 75 basis point interest rate hike and a 22.5 percent chance of a 100 basis point rate hike.

Investors also looked ahead to data on consumer confidence, new home sales, durable goods orders, second quarter GDP and personal income and spending, due during the course of this week.

The major averages ended mixed. The Dow ended with a gain of 90.75 points or 0.3 percent at 31,990.04 and the S&P 500 settled with a gain of 5.21 points or 0.1 percent at 3,966.84, while the Nasdaq finished with a loss of 51.45 points or 0.4 percent at 11,782.67.

Technology stocks struggled for direction, continued to be weighed down by a weak earnings update from Snap last week.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL) all closed in negative territory despite coming off the day’s lows.

Energy stocks fared well as crude oil prices moved up sharply. Chevron (CVX) climbed nearly 3 percent. Marathon Oil (MRO), APA Corp. (APA) and Diamondback Energy (FANG) also ended notably higher.

Shares of Newmont Mining (NEM) plunged nearly 14 percent after quarterly earnings fell short of expectations. The company’s earnings came in at $387 million, or $0.49 per share, compared with $650 million, or $0.81 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are jumping $1.87 to $98.57 a barrel after surging $2 to $96.70 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after falling $8.30 to $1,719.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $2.10 to $1,717 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 136.63 yen compared to the 136.69 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0121 compared to yesterday’s $1.0220.

Asia

Asian stocks struggled for direction before ending mixed on Tuesday as investors braced for a busy week of earnings and economic data in the United States.

Fears about economic growth continued to weigh after top U.S. retailer Walmart struck a downbeat tone on the health of the U.S. consumer. Tech heavyweights Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are due to report their financial results this week.

The dollar held just below multi-decade highs, while oil prices rose nearly 2 percent in Asian trading, adding to overnight gains on expectations that Russia’s reduction in natural gas supply to Europe could encourage a switch to crude.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, with investors looking for clues about the future pace or rate hikes.

The second quarter GDP figure for the U.S. is scheduled to be released on Thursday, and a negative print would mean that the world’s largest economy is in a technical recession.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8 percent to 3,277.44 after reports that government authorities plan to establish a bailout fund for certain property developers.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied 1.7 percent to 20,905.88. Alibaba Group shares surged 4.8 percent after the world’s biggest e-commerce company said it would apply to elevate the status of its Hong Kong-traded shares to make them more accessible to mainland Chinese buyers.

Japanese shares ended lower as the minutes of Bank of Japan’s June meeting cited the need to watch the impact of financial and forex market moves on the economy and prices.

The Nikkei 225 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 27,655.21, while the broader Topix closed marginally lower at 1,943.17. Shipping and pharma stocks led losses, while heavyweight SoftBank Group jumped 3.2 percent.

Seoul stocks rose modestly to extend gains for a second straight session after data showed GDP growth unexpectedly picked up in the second quarter. The Kospi edged up 0.4 percent to settle at 2,412.96.

Australian markets ended slightly higher ahead of inflation data due on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 percent to 6,807.30, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 0.3 percent higher at 7,025.20.

Mining and energy stocks topped the gainers list on the back of higher iron ore and crude prices.

Europe

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance on Tuesday as commodity-linked stocks gain ground, offsetting worries about an impending recession.

A growing energy crisis remained on investors’ radar after Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom said it will further cut gas flows through Nord Stream 1, Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe.

While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent.

Swiss Bank UBS has moved sharply lower after reporting weaker than expected earnings in the second quarter.

Eutelsat has also tumbled in Paris after its fiscal 2022 revenue declined 6.7 percent to 1.15 billion euros from 1.23 billion euros last year.

Construction equipment manufacturer Wacker Neuson has also declined. The company said it expects group revenue for the second quarter 2022 to be about 548.1 million euros compared to 494.3 million euros in the prior year.

Stratec has also slumped. The company, which develops and produces analyzer systems and automation systems in the field of in-vitro-diagnostics, expects consolidated sales to be 137.2 million euros for the first half of 2022 compared to 155.8 million euros last year.

Meanwhile, chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli has surged after raising its sales guidance and unveiling a 1 billion Swiss franc ($1.04 billion) share buyback program.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore have also moved to the upside, tracking higher base metals and iron ore prices.

Oil & gas firm BP Plc and Shell have also moved notably higher as oil extends overnight gains amid signs of tight supplies.

Consumer goods company Unilever has also advanced after raising its full-year sales guidance.

EasyJet has also jumped. The low-cost carrier said that it expects the capacity and cost impacts of recent disruptions to be “a one-off this summer,” with “greater resilience” forecast for the 2023 peak travel periods.

Rolls-Royce has also risen. The aerospace and defense firm named a private equity partner and former BP executive to succeed Warren East as the company’s chief executive.

U.S. Economic Reports

Standard & Poor’s is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of May at 9 am ET.

At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of July. The consumer confidence index is expected to dip to 96.8 in July from 98.7 in June.

The Commerce Department is also scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of June at 10 am ET. New home sales are expected to tumble by 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 660,000 in June after surging by 10.7 percent to a rate of 696,000 in May.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $46 billion worth of five-year notes.

Stocks In Focus

Shares of 3M (MMM) are seeing significant pre-market strength after the conglomerate reported better than expected second quarter results and announced plans to spin off its health care business,

Recreational vehicle maker Polaris (PII) is also likely to move to the upside after reporting second quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Meanwhile, shares of Coinbase (COIN) may come under pressure after a report from Bloomberg said the cryptocurrency exchange operator is facing a U.S. probe into whether it improperly let Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities.