\n<\/p>\n
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside following the weakness seen in the previous session.<\/p>\n
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to a steep drop by the price of crude oil, as U.S. crude oil futures tumble by more than 2 percent.<\/p>\n
Oil prices are under pressure despite a lack of meaningful progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations to sort out issues and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n
According to some reports, Iranian officials are not optimistic about the possibility of the two nations reaching an agreement before the U.S. midterm elections in November.<\/p>\n
The slump in crude oil prices has also contributed to a pullback by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note pulling back off its highest level since June 2007.<\/p>\n
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy meeting late next month.<\/p>\n
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 70.3 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by another quarter point at its October meeting.<\/p>\n
After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks fluctuated but remained mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day following the strength seen during last Friday’s session.<\/p>\n
The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 248.34 points or 0.9 percent to 26,820.38, the S&P 500 slid 59.72 points or 0.8 percent to 7,683.69 and the Dow fell 347.11 points or 0.7 percent to 51,481.51.<\/p>\n
The early weakness on Wall Street came amid a significant rebound by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures spiking by as much as 4.5 percent after tumbling by 2.3 percent during last Friday’s trading.<\/p>\n
Crude oil prices surged early in the day after President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s conditional proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Iran’s proposal would have purportedly reopened the strait and resumed nuclear talks in return for the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.<\/p>\n
A report from the Wall Street Journal citing U.S. officials said Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n
While the price of crude oil pulled back well off its highs of the session, treasury yields extended their recent surge.<\/p>\n
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumped to its highest level since June 2007 as elevated energy prices continue to contribute to concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy meeting late next month.<\/p>\n
Gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeting by 5.2 percent to its lowest closing level in well over a month.<\/p>\n
The jump in treasury yields also contributed to considerable weakness among interest rate-sensitive telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.<\/p>\n
Semiconductor, banking and oil service stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.<\/p>\n
Commodity, Currency Markets<\/b><\/p>\n
Crude oil futures are tumbling $1.96 to $90.64 a barrel after rising $0.19 to $92.60 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after plummeting $152.80 to $4,168.40 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $22.30 to $4,190.70 an ounce.<\/p>\n
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.29 yen compared to the 157.35 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1347 compared to yesterday’s $1.1370.<\/p>\n
Asia<\/b><\/p>\n
Mixed sentiment prevailed in Asian markets<\/span> on Tuesday, tracking the negative sentiment in Wall Street on Monday. Market mood was impacted by worries about a broad slowdown in AI development. <\/p>\n Markets also digested the quarter percentage rate hike by Reserve Bank of Australia. A renewed diplomatic push to end the Middle East crisis, the decline in crude oil prices as well as the easing in bond yields capped losses.<\/p>\n China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 percent from the previous close of 3,823.62 to finish trading at 3,830.45. The day’s trading ranged between 3,810.81 and 3,843.84. At current levels, the index has lost 0.8 percent over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.5 percent to close trading at 65,571.00. The day’s trading ranged between 64,708 and 65,837. Despite the day’s losses, the index is holding on to gains of more than 45 percent over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n Tokai Carbon surged 4.8 percent followed by Disco Corp that gained 4.2 percent. Nexon Co slipped more than 14 percent. Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Idemitsu Kosan Co, JFE Holdings have all shed around 4.9 percent.<\/p>\n The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shed 0.5 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 24,523.57. The day’s trading range was between a high of 24,648.64 and a low of 24,444.15. The index has lost close to 8 percent over the past year.<\/p>\n Korean Stock Exchange’s Kospi Index slipped 0.3 percent from the previous close of 6,889.74 to close trading at 6,870.81. The day’s trading range was between 6,782.99 and 6,898.36. Nevertheless, the index is holding on to gains of more than 100 percent over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n Australia’s S&P\/ASX200 Index closed trading at 8,709.30, adding 0.3 percent from the previous close of 8,679.70. The day’s trading ranged between 8,661 and 8,709.30. The index is trading with losses of more than 1.7 percent over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n Communications technology<\/span> business<\/span> Codan led gains with a surge of 23.9 percent after it sharply raised its first-half profit outlook on strong demand from drone manufacturers. Megaport rallied 9.4 percent. Karoon Energy led losses with a decline of 6.8 percent followed by Block that declined 2.53 percent.<\/p>\n The NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange slumped 1.1 percent to close trading at 13,683.63. The day’s trading ranged between 13,681.76 and 13,830.68. The benchmark index has gained around 4.2 percent over the course of the past year.<\/p>\n Fonterra Shareholders Fund rallied 3.2 percent followed by Synlait Milk that gained 2.4 percent. Serko led losses with a decline of 3.8 percent. Vista Group International dropped 3.2 percent.<\/p>\n Europe<\/b><\/p>\n The major European markets have gained some ground on Tuesday, with investors picking up select stocks despite oil prices remaining at elevated levels and bond yields continuing to hover around multi-year highs.<\/p>\n Oil prices rose sharply this morning amid a lack of meaningful progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations to sort out issues and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to some reports, Iranian officials are not optimistic about the possibility of the two nations reaching an agreement before the U.S. midterm elections in November.<\/p>\n Brent crude front-month futures, which climbed to $107.87 a barrel earlier, dropped to $104.40, down more than 1 percent from previous close.<\/p>\n While the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.1 percent.<\/p>\n Miners and pharmaceuticals stocks gained in strength in the U.K. market, contributing significantly to the benchmark’s upward move.<\/p>\n Miners moved higher on firm precious metals prices. Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc gained 3.3 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Glencore, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto climbed 1.7 percent-2.2 percent.<\/p>\n Pharma stocks GSK and AstraZeneca gained 2.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n Weir Group, Convatec Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Spirax Group, Halma, Diploma and Metlen Energy & Metals were among the other prominent gainers.<\/p>\n Energy stocks Ithaca, BP and Shell shed 4.2 percent, 3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Among other losers, British American Tobacco, The Sage Group, Admiral Group, Unilever and Barratt Redrow shed 0.8 percent-1.9 percent.<\/p>\n In the German market, Infineon Technologies and Siemens Energy moved up 4.8 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, buoyed by a report in Reuters that Anthropic is betting on AI to transform the global economy<\/span> and plans to use public investors to fund its growth.<\/p>\n Vonovia, Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, MTU Aero Engines, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, Hochtief, Commerzbank and Scout24 also climbed notably higher.<\/p>\n Fresenius Medical Care shed nearly 2 percent following Berenberg slashing the stock’s price target sharply and withdrawing its buy recommendation.<\/p>\n Bayer drifted down 2.5 percent. Daimler Truck Holding, Hannover RE, Munich RE and Rheinmetall also showed weakness.<\/p>\n In the French market, Legrand jumped nearly 8 percent after raising its 2030 targets, citing accelerated growth in data centers and the energy transition alongside improved profitability.<\/p>\n STMicroelectronics, Schneider Electric, Bureau Veritas, Safran, Accor and Stellantis gained 1 percent-3.5 percent.<\/p>\n TotalEnergies, Eurofins Scientific, Dassault Systemes, Vinci, Danone and Carrefour lost 1 percent-2.7 percent.<\/p>\n In economic news, a report from the British Retail Consortium said UK shop prices grew at a slightly slower pace in September due to promotions and strong discounting.<\/p>\n Shop price inflation edged down to 1.4 percent in September from 1.5 percent in August. Nonetheless, the rate remained above the three-month average of 1.3 percent.<\/p>\n U.S. Economic News<\/b><\/p>\n Standard & Poor’s is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of July at 9 am ET.<\/p>\n At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of September. The consumer confidence index is expected to inch up to 90.0 in September after slipping to 89.4 in August.<\/p>\n The Labor Department is also scheduled to release its report on job openings in the month of August at 10 am ET. Job openings are expected to decrease to 7.225 million in August from 7.271 million in July.<\/p>\n At 11 am ET, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman is due to deliver opening remarks at the Federal Reserve System Community Bank Cyber Workshop.<\/p>\n Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr is scheduled to speak on the economic outlook at A Conversation with Michael S. Barr on the State of the Economy at 12:40 pm ET.<\/p>\n At 1 pm ET, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before “The Economy Ahead” luncheon.<\/p>\n St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem is scheduled to speak before the London School of Economics and Political Science at 1:30 pm ET.<\/p>\n At 2:00 pm ET, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to give the keynote and participate in a conversation at the University of Buffalo.<\/p>\n Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller is scheduled to speak on “Payments” before the Sibos 2026 Conference at 3 pm ET. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n