US Stocks Likely To Open Higher Amid Ukraine Peace Talk Hopes As Russian, American Officials Meet
U.S. stock futures rose on Tuesday after a long weekend following a mixed close on Friday. Monday was a federal holiday owing to the Presidents Day celebrations. The futures of all four benchmark indices advanced.
Investors will be on the lookout for global macroeconomic factors as the U.S. and Russian officials met in Riyadh on Tuesday for their highest-level talks yet on the Ukraine war.
Discussions focused on ending the three-year conflict and improving relations, potentially paving the way for a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Walmart Inc.’s (NYSE:WMT) earnings will be a key focus this week, along with reports from U.S.-listed Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba Group Holding ADR (NYSE:BABA) and Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU). Online used-car retailer Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA), and EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) will also report this week.
The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.50%, while the two-year yield was at 4.27%. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, there is a 97.5% chance that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged for the March meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.37% |
| S&P 500 | 0.29% |
| Dow Jones | 0.10% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.15% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Tuesday. SPY rose 0.30% to $611.52, and QQQ advanced 0.42% to $540.42, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From The Last Session
Tech and Communication Services bucked the negative trend, closing higher on Friday, while Healthcare, Consumer Staples, and Utilities led losses as most S&P 500 sectors declined.
Despite Friday’s mixed results, for the last week, the S&P 500 gained 1.5%, the Dow 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 2.6% led by weaker-than-expected retail sales which were down 0.9% in January.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.41% | 20,026.77 |
| S&P 500 | -0.0072% | 6,114.63 |
| Dow Jones | -0.37% | 44,546.08 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.097% | 2,279.98 |
Insights From Analysts
Ryan Detrick, the chief market strategist at Carson Research pointed out that seven out of the total broad 11 sectors have outperformed the S&P 500 index on a year-to-date basis.
“We’ve been pounding the table for broadening out and we think this will continue,” he added.
The S&P 500 has surged 60% in the past two years, a significant increase. However, according to Bravos Research historically, similar rapid gains have often been followed by substantial market downturns.
The downturns have occurred three out of the last four times after such a surge was witnessed. Bravos highlights that one instance did lead to a rapid and dramatic market rise, calling it a “melt-up.”
The question, now is whether the current situation will follow the more common pattern of decline or the rarer “melt-up” scenario.
Talking about the economic impact Ed Yardeni in his Market Call blog said, “So far, Trump’s tariff turmoil seems to be weighing more on the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and many other emerging markets than on China and most European countries.”
That could change once reciprocal tariffs are imposed by the U.S. in early April, unless Trump changes his mind, again, added Yardeni.
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will keep an eye on this week:
- On Tuesday, February’s Empire State manufacturing survey data will be released at 8:30 a.m., ET.
- February’s home builder confidence index will be announced at 10:00 a.m., ET.
- San Francisco Fed President Mary C Daly will speak at 10:20 a.m., while Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr will speak at 1:00 p.m., ET.
- On Wednesday, January’s housing starts and building permits data will be out by 8:30 a.m., ET.
- January’s minutes of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting will be released at 2:00 p.m., ET.
- Fed Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson will speak at 5:00 p.m., ET.
- On Thursday, initial jobless claims till Feb. 15 will be announced and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for Feb will be out by 8:30 a.m., ET.
- Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will be speaking at 09:35 a.m., ET.
- January’s leading economic indicators will be released at 10:00 a.m., ET.
- Vice Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr will speak again at 2:30 p.m., ET.
- Fed Governor Adriana Kugler will be speaking at 5:00 p.m., ET.
- On Friday, February’s S&P flash U.S. services PMI and manufacturing PMI will be out by 9:45 a.m., ET.
- The final consumer sentiment data for February and existing home sales data for January will be out by 10:00 a.m., ET.
- Fed Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson will speak again and San Francisco Fed President Mary C Daly will also speak at 11:30 a.m., ET.
Stocks In Focus:
- Medtronic PLC. (NYSE:MDT) was up 0.75% in the premarket on Tuesday ahead of its earnings, which will be released before the opening bell. Analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share on revenue of $8.32 billion.
- Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) advanced 1.34% as Wall Street expects it to report quarterly earnings of 77 cents per share on revenue of $4.42 billion before the opening bell.
- Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) dropped 2.28% ahead of its earnings, which will be released before the opening bell. Analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of $1.78 per share on revenue of $4.56 billion.
- Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) jumped 1.64% as Wall Street expects it to report quarterly earnings of 70 cents per share on revenue of $7.05 billion after the closing bell.
- Aptose Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:APTO) climbed 17.78% after securing two funding agreements; a $25 million committed equity facility allowing them to sell shares to an investor over two years, and a $1 million at-the-market facility for Nasdaq share sales.
- Pagaya Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:PGY) zoomed 23.68% after posting record total revenue and other income of $279 million in the fourth quarter along with a record network volume of $2.6 billion.
- MGO Global Inc. (NASDAQ:MGOL) plunged 26.42% as shareholders approved the proposed business combination with Heidmar at a special meeting on Friday.
Commodities, Gold And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 1.56% to hover around $71.81 per barrel.
The gold spot index was up by 0.48% to $2,912.19 per ounce. The Dollar Index was up 0.34% at 106.932 level.
Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday. Australia's ASX 200, China's CSI 300, and India's S&P BSE Sensex index fell. Whereas, South Korea's Kospi, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and Japan's Nikkei 225 index advanced. European markets were mixed in trade as well.
Read Next:
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock