The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Tuesday, with the Dow futures up by 99 points and the Nasdaq futures down by 2.50 points.
Following the mixed performance seen last week, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages ended the day mixed. While the Nasdaq climbed 23.05 or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 6,410.81, the Dow fell 66.90 points or 0.3 percent to 21,513.17 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.63 points or 0.1 percent to 2,469.91.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement.
On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a bigger than expected drop in existing home sales in the month of June.
NAR said existing home sales slumped by 1.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.52 million in June from 5.62 million in May. Economists had expected existing home sales to drop by 1.0 percent.
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.
Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index slumping by 2.4 percent. The weakness in the gold sector came amid a modest decrease by the price of the precious metal.
Tobacco and airline stocks also saw considerable weakness, while significant strength was visible among biotechnology stocks.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are jumping $0.82 to $47.16 a barrel after climbing $0.57 to $46.34 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after dipping $0.60 to $1,254.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are falling $1.40 to $1,252.90 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 111.42 yen compared to the 111.10 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1693 compared to yesterday's $1.1642.
Asia
Asian stocks closed on a mixed note on Tuesday as oil extended overnight gains and the Japanese yen weakened ahead of the two-day policy meeting of the Federal Reserve starting later today.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged but investors will be looking for clues on whether the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates again this year.
Oil rose further in Asian deals after climbing more than 1 percent in the overnight session as Saudi Arabia pledged to curb exports from August and Nigeria agreed to curb production to rein in global oversupply.
Also, Haliburton Co's executive chairman said the U.S. shale drilling boom would probably ease next year.
Chinese stocks fell as investors booked profits in recent outpeformers such as real estate and resource firms. Investor sentiment was also dented after China's top decision-making body emphasized stricter financial discipline for the rest of 2017.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index eased 6.91 points or 0.21 percent to 3,243.69 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was marginally higher at 26,852 in late trade.
Japanese shares edged lower in choppy trade, drawing little support from a weaker yen, which pulled back from a five-week high versus the dollar. The Nikkei average closed 20.47 points or 0.10 percent lower at 19,955.20 while the broader Topix index dropped 0.28 percent to 1,617.07.
Mobile carrier NTT Docomo lost 1.5 percent on a Nikkei report that its April-June group operating profit probably sank nearly 10 percent from last year because of still competition from budget wireless carriers.
Drugmaker Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp rose 1.4 percent on saying it would buy Israel's Neuroderm for $1.1 billion. Rival Shionogi & Co advanced 1.7 percent on news that it would submit a new drug application to the PMDA in Japan later this year.
Tech shares followed their U.S. peers higher, with Tokyo Electron, Advantest and Sharp Corp rising 1-2 percent. SoftBank Group rose 0.8 percent after reports that it is keen to take a multi-billion dollar stake in Uber.
The Bank of Japan's June 15-16 meeting released today revealed that there was heated discussion among board members on how much information they should disclose to the public about a potential exit from quantitative easing.
Australian shares led regional gains as banks steadied, a rally in oil prices helped lift energy stocks and gold miners logged gains for a third consecutive session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 38.50 points or 0.68 percent to 5,726.60, snapping two sessions of losses. The broader All Ordinaries index gained 37.30 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 5,775.30.
Firmer commodity prices helped lift miners and energy stocks, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group, Beach Energy and Santos closing up between 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent. Gold miners Evolution, Regis Resources and Newcrest rallied 2-4 percent as gold prices hit a one-month high.
The big four banks rose between 0.3 percent and 0.9 percent. Super Retail Group rallied 2.3 percent on news that it would convert its network of Amart Sports shops into new Rebel stores by October 31. Wesfarmers ended little changed after posting a 3.2 percent drop in Q4 coal output.
Confectionery maker Yowie Group tumbled 16.7 percent after its full-year sales growth disappointed investors. Coca-Cola Amatil slumped 3.9 percent after reports that supermarket giant Woolworths will stop stocking most of its Mount Franklin water range.
In economic releases, Australia's consumer confidence improved during the week ended July 23, after falling in the previous two weeks, a weekly survey compiled by the ANZ bank and Roy Morgan Research showed.
Europe
European stocks rebounded from three days of losses on Tuesday, with firmer commodity prices, deal-making news and a slew of solid earnings updates buoying investor sentiment ahead of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve starting later in the day.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.7 percent at 381.75 in late opening deals after closing 0.2 percent lower on Monday to hit two-week lows.
The German DAX was moving up 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 index was gaining 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was rising 0.9 percent.
Banks were broadly higher after ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch said a substantial degree of monetary accommodation is still needed for underlying inflation pressures to gradually build up and support headline inflation. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and UniCredit climbed 1-2 percent.
British property developer Segro soared 4.5 percent on reporting a rise in first-half pretax profit.
Similarly, business media group Informa jumped 6.5 percent after posting positive first-half results.
Jimmy Choo shares rallied 17 percent after U.S. retailer Michael Kors agreed to buy the British fashion house for $1.2 billion.
German-based technology firm Aixtron rose over 1 percent after narrowing its first-half loss.
On the flip side, Dutch paints maker Akzo Nobel lost 1 percent after its second-quarter profit missed forecasts.
In economic releases, a gauge of German business confidence rose to 116 in July, survey results from Ifo Institute showed. The score was forecast to fall to 114.9 from June's initially estimated value of 115.1.
France's manufacturing sentiment index came in at 109 in July, the same as in June. Economists had forecast the score to remain at June's initially estimated value of 108.
U.S. Economic Reports
The Conference Board is scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of July at 10 am ET. The consumer confidence index is expected to dip to 117.0.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to release the results of its auction of $26 billion worth of two-year notes.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.