After moving mostly higher over the course of the previous session, stocks could see some further upside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a moderately higher open, with the Dow futures up by 42 points.
Easing concerns about the Greek debt crisis may contribute to additional strength on Wall Street, with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou facing a crucial parliamentary vote of confidence on the reshuffled cabinet he unveiled last week.
The confidence vote is a key step in Papandreou's efforts to win support for additional austerity measures. The vote is expected to pass, as Papandreou's socialist party holds a five-seat majority in the 300-member Greek parliament.
Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar said, "We all hope that Papandreou gets a thumbs up tonight within the Greek government to continue on with the budget cuts that must be followed in order for the country to avoid an outright default by receiving the next round of money from the EU and IMF."
Later this morning, trading could be impacted by the release of the National Association of Realtors' report on existing home sales in the month of May. The report is expected to show that existing home sales fell to an annual rate of 4.75 million from 5.05 million in the previous month.
Nonetheless, trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the key confidence vote in Greece as well as the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement as well as remarks from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
In corporate news, shares of Walgreen (WAG) could be in focus after the drug store operator reported third quarter earnings of $0.65 per share, up from $0.47 per share a year ago and above analyst estimates for $0.62 per share. The company said its sales for the quarter rose 6.8 percent to $18.37 billion.
Walgreen also announced that contract renewal negotiations with pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts (ESRX) have been unsuccessful. As a result, the company is not planning to be a part of Express Scripts' pharmacy provider network as of January 1, 2012.
Meanwhile, shares of Best Buy (BBY) could see early strength after the consumer electronics retailer said its board has authorized a new $5 billion share repurchase program. The board also approved a 7 percent increase in Best Buy's quarterly cash dividend to $0.16 per share.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday, rebounding from initial weakness amid easing concerns about the Greek debt crisis. Bargain hunting also contributed to the strength on Wall Street following recent weakness.
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory but off their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced by 76.02 points or 0.6 percent to 12,080.38, the Nasdaq rose 13.18 points or 0.5 percent to 2,629.66 and the S&P 500 climbed 6.86 points or 0.5 percent to 1,278.36.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 1.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.2 percent.
The major European markets are also moving to the upside on the day. The German DAX Index is up by 0.9 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index have both risen by 1 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are rising $1.20 to $94.46 a barrel after edging up by $0.25 to $93.26 a barrel on Monday. Gold futures are climbing $2.10 to $1,544.10 an ounce. In the previous session, the precious metal rose $2.90 to $1,542 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is currently trading at 80.0685 yen compared to the 80.254 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.4372 compared to yesterday's $1.4304.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.