US stock futures edge higher as presidential election, Fed meeting loom
U.S. stock index futures rose slightly Tuesday, regaining some ground after recent steep losses as investors hunkered down before an expected tight presidential election and a Fed meeting.
At 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT), Dow Jones Futures climbed 55 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures rose 12 points, or 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 80 points, or 0.4%.
The main indices fell Monday, with the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite dropping 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, extending losses from last week as risk appetite remained strained. Trump, Harris head for tight presidential election
Investors were on edge as recent polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were neck-and-neck in the upcoming presidential election, with most voting set to start later Tuesday.
While earlier polls had shown Trump gaining some ground over Harris, this trend appeared to have reversed going into the election.
Trump is expected to roll out more inflationary policies and impose tougher trade tariffs on China- a scenario that could bode poorly for the big tech sector, while Harris has proposed increased taxes on high net worth individuals and big businesses, while easing the tax burden on families. Fed set to cut interest rates
The Federal Reserve also holds a policy-setting meeting later this week, with the central bank widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points , after a 50 bps cut in September.
Recent data showing sticky inflation and strength in the U.S. economy have cast some doubts over just how much interest rates will fall in the coming months, given that the Fed has signaled a data-driven approach to any further easing.
Still, weak nonfarm payrolls data released on Friday showed the labor market was cooling, which could keep the Fed biased towards more easing.
Focus will be squarely on an address by Chair Jerome Powell on the bank’s plans for future rate cuts. Quarterly earnings continue
Third-quarter earnings have provided a series of mixed cues, after a swathe of middling big tech earnings from last week.
Results are expected Tuesday from the likes of Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI ) and Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM ), while data software firm Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR ) rallied over 12% premarket as its earnings beat expectations while providing upbeat revenue guidance.
Elsewhere, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR ) rose 5% after the discount store said CEO Rick Dreiling will resign and Chief Operating Officer Michael Creedon Jr will take over on an interim basis.
Boeing (NYSE:BA ) stock rose 2% after striking workers voted in favor of the planemaker’s latest contract offer, ending a long-running labor action that had severely disrupted production for nearly two months. Quarterly earnings continue
Oil prices stabilized Tuesday, after the previous session’s strong gains, with the proximity to the extremely tight US presidential election limiting trading ranges.
By 05:00 ET, the Brent contract gained 0.5% to $75.48 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.6% higher at $71.87 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had registered gains of over 2% on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, announced that it will again delay a planned output hike of 180,000 barrels per day by at least a month.
This was the second time OPEC+ has extended its 2.2 million bpd cut, illustrating how concerned the producing countries are about global demand. (Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
Source: Investing.com
