U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading

Following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions, stocks are likely to regain ground in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 171 points.

Traders may look to get back into the markets after the drop seen early in the week dragged the major averages down from their recent highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended last Friday’s trading at a nearly three-month closing high, while the Dow and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in well over a month.

Buying interest may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders remain concerned about rising tensions between the U.S. and China following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

Traders may also be reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Shortly after the start of trading, The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of July.

The services PMI is expected to dip to 53.5 in July from 55.3 in June, although a reading above 50 would still indicate growth in the sector.

The Commerce Department is also due to release its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of June. Factory orders are expected to jump by 1.1 percent.

U.S. stocks closed on a weak note on Tuesday as rising tensions between the U.S. and China and signs of slowing global growth weighed on sentiment. Hawkish comments from a couple of Federal Reserve officials also contributed to the weakness on Wall Street.

The Dow ended with a loss of 402.23 points or 1.2 percent at 32,396.17, slightly off the session’s low. The S&P 500, which advanced to 4,140.47, settled with a loss of 27.44 points or 0.7 percent at 4,091.19, while the Nasdaq, which rebounded to 12,503.34 from an early low, ended with a loss of 20.22 points or 0.2 percent at 12,348.76.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.5 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.74 to $96.16 a barrel after rising $0.53 to $94.42 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,783.60, down $6.10 compared to the previous session’s close of $1,789.70. On Tuesday, gold edged up $2.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 133.54 yen compared to the 133.17 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0189 compared to yesterday’s $1.0166.

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