U.S. Stocks May Come Under Pressure In Early Trading
With trading resuming following the long Presidents Day weekend, stocks may come under pressure in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a notably lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 335 points.
A negative reaction to quarterly results from retail giants Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) is likely to weigh on Wall Street.
Shares of Walmart are slumping in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results but provided disappointing guidance for the current year.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot is also seeing significant pre-market weakness after reporting fourth quarter sales that missed analyst estimates and providing a downbeat forecast.
Geopolitical concerns may also generate selling pressure after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is suspending Russia’s participation in a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S.
The announcement by Putin comes after U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Monday.
Meanwhile, traders are also looking ahead to Wednesday’s release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting, which could shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.
Recent economic data has led to worries the Fed may raise rates higher than currently anticipated and keep rates at an elevated level for an extended period.
Shortly after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on existing home sales in the month of January. Existing home sales are expected to inch up by 0.1 percent in January after slumping by 1.5 percent in December.
Stocks initially extended Thursday’s sell-off but regained some ground over the course of the trading session on Friday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 68.56 points or 0.6 percent to 11,787.27 and the S&P 500 fell 11.32 points or 0.3 percent to 4,079.09, but the narrower Dow rose 129.84 points or 0.4 percent to 33,826.69.
The major averages also turned in a mixed performance for the week. While the Nasdaq climbed by 0.6 percent, the Dow edged down by 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 dipped by 0.3 percent.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.4 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.57 to $76.91 a barrel after plunging $2.15 to $76.34 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after edging down $1.60 to $1,850.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $6.60 to $1,843.60 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 134.81 yen compared to the 134.25 yen it fetched on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0664 compared to yesterday’s $1.0686.
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