Futures Pointing To Initial Strength On Wall Street

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

Stocks may benefit from recent upward momentum, which has lifted the markets to record highs amid optimism about the economic outlook.

Continued strength seen in the overseas markets on the day may also contribute to early buying interest on Wall Street.

Overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

Following the rally seen last week, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday. The major averages spent much of the day lingering near the unchanged line before closing mixed.

The Dow edged down 12.87 points or 0.1 percent to 25,283.00, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs. The Nasdaq climbed 20.83 points or 0.3 percent to 7,157.39 and the S&P 500 rose 4.56 points or 0.2 percent to 2,747.71.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the recent run to record highs.

A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of key reports on retail sales and producer and consumer prices later this week.

Financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are also due to report their quarterly results on Friday as earnings season gets underway.

Oil service stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 1.9 percent. With the gain, the index climbed to its best closing level in over eight months.

The strength among oil service stocks came amid an increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for February delivery rising $0.29 to $61.73 a barrel.

Considerable strength was also visible among railroad stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent advance by the Dow Jones Railroads Index. The index reached a record closing high.

Steel, networking, trucking and computer hardware stocks also saw notable strength, while gold, biotechnology and airline stocks moved to the downside on the day.