U.S. Stocks May Give Back Ground In Early Trading
After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, stocks may give back ground in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 178 points.
Profit taking may contribute to an initial pullback on Wall Street, as traders cash in on recent strength in the markets.
The rally seen on Monday added to the strong gains posted last week, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best levels in a month.
Traders may look to pull some money out of stocks amid uncertainty ahead of the release of quarterly results from tech giants Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) after the close of trading.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes despite a positive reaction to earnings news from a number of big-name companies.
Shares of General Motors (GM), Coca-Cola (KO) and UPS (UPS) are seeing pre-market strength after the companies all reported better than expected third quarter earnings.
On the other hand, shares of 3M (MMM) may move to the downside after the conglomerate reported mixed third quarter results and lowered its full-year guidance.
Not long after the start of trading, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of October. The consumer confidence index is expected to dip to 106.0 in October from 108.0 in September.
Stocks fluctuated early in the session on Monday but moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day. The major averages added to the strong gains posted last Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best closing levels in a month.
The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow surged 417.06 points or 1.3 percent to 31,499.62, the Nasdaq advanced 92.90 points or 0.9 percent to 10,952.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.59 points or 1.2 percent to 3,797.34.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.0 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed just below the unchanged line.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 1.0 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are sliding $0.94 to $83.64 a barrel after falling $0.47 to $84.58 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after edging down $2.20 to $1,654.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $7.70 to $1,646.40 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.84 yen compared to the 148.91 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $0.9864 compared to yesterday’s $0.9874.
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