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After ending the previous session moderately 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 by just 0.1 percent.
Traders may remain reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched inflation data in the coming days.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer price inflation and consumer price inflation on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
While last Friday’s weaker-than-expected jobs data increased confidence the Fed will cut interest rates at its meeting next week, the inflation data could influence how aggressively the central bank lowers rates.
Economists currently expect the annual rate of producer price growth in August to come in unchanged from July at 3.3 percent.
The annual rate of growth by consumer prices is expected to accelerate to 2.9 percent in August from 2.7 percent in July, while the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, is expected to hold at 3.1 percent.
Ahead of the data, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 92.1 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point and a slim 7.9 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
Stocks moved moderately higher during trading on Monday, regaining ground after ending last Friday’s session well off their worst levels but still mostly lower. With the upward move, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 98.31 points or 0.5 percent to 21,978.70, the Dow increased 114.09 points or 0.3 percent to 45,514.95 and the S&P 500 rose 13.65 points or 0.2 percent to 6,495.15.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.2 percent.
The major European markets are also mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $0.72 to $62.98 a barrel after rising $0.39 to $62.26 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after climbing $24.10 to $3,677.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are increasing $10.40 to $3,687.80 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.92 yen compared to the 147.50 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1731 compared to yesterday’s $1.1763.
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