Futures Pointing To Initial Rebound On Wall Street
Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, regaining ground following the modest weakness seen in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.
Optimism about the outlook for interest rates may inspire renewed buying interest on Wall Street following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement last week.
While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, officials maintained their forecast for three rate cuts this year.
Following the Fed announcement, the chances of a 25 basis point rate cut in June have rebounded to 64.4 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
The major averages rallied to record highs on the heels of the Fed announcement last week, leading to some profit taking over the past two sessions.
Selling pressure remained subdued, however, as traders seem more concerned about missing out on further upside than suggestions the markets are overbought.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a notable increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.
The report said durable goods orders jumped by 1.4 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 6.9 percent in January.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 6.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, surging by 3.3 percent in February after plunging by 18.3 percent in January.
Excluding the rebound in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in February after falling by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent increase.
Shortly after the start of trading, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of March. The consumer confidence index is expected to come in unchanged in March after falling to 106.7 in February.
After an early move to the downside, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday but largely maintained a negative bias. The major averages all finished the day lower after ending last Friday’s trading mixed.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 44.35 points or 0.3 percent to 16,384.47, pulling back off the record closing high set in the previous session, while the S&P 500 dipped 15.99 points or 0.3 percent to 5,218.19 and the Dow slid 162.26 points or 0.4 percent to 39,313.64.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has climbed by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.14 to $82.09 a barrel after jumping $1.32 to $81.95 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after climbing $16.60 to $2,198.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are advancing $18.40 to $2,216.60 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 151.44 yen compared to the 151.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0850 compared to yesterday’s $1.0837.
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