After ending the previous session mostly higher, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up just 3 points.
A mixed reaction to the latest earnings news may lead to choppy trading on Wall Street, with several big-name companies also due to report their quarterly results after the close of trading.
Shares of UPS (UPS) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after the delivery giant reported first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of Tesla (TSLA) are seeing pre-market weakness even though the electric car maker reported better than expected first quarter results.
Conglomerates General Electric (GE) and 3M (MMM) may also move to the downside despite reporting first quarter earnings that beat expectations.
Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Advance Micro Devices (AMD), and Microsoft (MSFT) are among the companies due to report their results after the close of today’s trading.
Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Fed is widely expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, but traders will be paying close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement that may signal a shift in the near future.
Shortly after the start of trading, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of April. The consumer confidence index is expected to rise to 112.0 in April after spiking to 109.7 in March.
With technology stocks helping to lead the way higher, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed in positive territory on Monday. Both indexes reached new record closing highs, although the narrower Dow closed slightly lower.
While the Dow edged down 61.92 points or 0.2 percent to 33,981.57, the Nasdaq advanced 121.97 points or 0.9 percent to 14,138.78 and the S&P 500 rose 7.45 points or 0.2 percent to 4,187.62.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.5 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
The major European markets have also shown modest moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has edged down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.54 to $62.45 a barrel after slipping $0.23 to $61.91 barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after inching up $2.30 to $1,780.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $3.20 to $1,783.30 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.27 yen compared to the 108.08 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.2080 compared to yesterday’s $1.2086.
Source: Read Full Article