The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the weakness seen in the previous session.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.
The minutes of the Fed's December meeting, when the central bank decided to lower interest rates by another quarter point, may provide further insight about officials' divergent views about the likelihood of further rate cuts in the new year.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in late January, rates are expected to be at least another quarter point lower by the end of 2026, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
On the heels of the Christmas holidays last week, some traders may also remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.
After turning in a strong performance last week, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. The major averages all moved to the downside, although selling pressure was somewhat subdued.
The major averages ended the day well off their worst levels but still in negative territory. The Dow fell 249.04 points or 0.5 percent to 48,461.93, the Nasdaq slid 118.75 points or 0.5 percent to 23,474.35 and the S&P 500 declined 24.20 points or 0.4 percent to 6,905.74.
The pullback on Wall Street may have reflected profit taking, as some traders looked to cash in on recent gains going into the end of the year.
Partly reflecting renewed strength among tech stocks, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended last Wednesday's trading at record closing highs before edging slightly lower last Friday.
The major averages all posted strong gains for the Christmas-interrupted week. While the S&P 500 shot up by 1.4 percent, the Dow and the Nasdaq both jumped by 1.2 percent.
A pullback by big-name tech companies is also weighing on the markets, with Nvidia (NVDA) and Oracle (ORCL) showing notable moves to the downside.
Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed pending home sales in the U.S. shot up by much more than expected in the month of November.
NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.3 percent to 79.2 in November after surging by 2.4 percent to an upwardly revised 76.7 in October.
Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.9 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
Gold stocks saw substantial weakness amid a sharp pullback by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 5.7 percent after ending last Friday's trading at a record closing high.
Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
Computer hardware, steel and banking stocks also saw notable weakness, while oil producer stocks moved to the upside amid a spike by the price of crude oil.
Commodity, Currency Markets
Crude oil futures are rising $0.25 to $58.33 a barrel after surging $1.34 to $58.08 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after plummeting $209.10 to $4,343.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $56.80 to $4,400.40 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.11 yen compared to the 156.04 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1757 compared to yesterday's $1.1772.
Asia
Sentiment in Asian markets remained mixed on Tuesday as markets brace for the year-end. Focus remains on the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for release Tuesday afternoon.
Investors also focused on the geopolitical developments related to China, the Middle East as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
China's Shanghai Composite Index closed just below the unchanged line at 3,965.12, snapping a nine-day winning streak. The day's trading ranged between 3,947.42 and 3,979.99. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 13,604.07, gaining 0.5 percent from the previous close of 13,537.10.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 Index shed 0.4 percent to close trading at 50,339.48. The day's trading range was between 50,208.50 and 50,549.00.
Fujitsu and Nidec Corp. both rallied more than 2.2. percent. Dainippon Screen Mfg Co., Murata Mfg Co. and Nitori Holdings Co. all gained more than 1 percent in Tuesday's trading.
Sumitomo Metal Mining led losses with a decline of 4.8 percent. Rakuten, Japan Steel Works, Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and TOTO all followed with losses of more than 2 percent.
The Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index dipped 0.2 percent from the previous close of 4,220.56 to close trading at 4,214.17. The day's trading range was between 4,186.95 and 4,226.36.
The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange jumped 0.9 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 25,854.60. The day's trading range was between a high of 25,930.22 and a low of 25,611.23.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index closed trading at 8,717.10, edging down 0.1 percent from the previous close of 8,725.70. The day's trading range was between 8,706.60 and 8,751.90.
Netwealth Group rebounded 2.1 percent. Temple & Webster Group, Mirvac Group, Santos, Centuria Capital Group all rallied more than 1.5 percent.
Silex Systems and Liontown both plunged more than 4.7 percent. Newmont Corp. lost 4.1 percent, while Catalyst Metals as well as Evolution Mining lost more than 3 percent.
The NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange rose 0.2 percent to close trading at 13,548.13, versus the previous close of 13,525.99. The day's trading ranged between 13,518.17 and 13,569.85.
Synlait Milk topped gains with a surge of 3.2 percent. Pacific Edge, NZX, Scales and Sanford all rallied more than 2 percent.
KMD Brands, Summerset Group, Serko, Genesis Energy all declined more than a percent.
Europe
European stocks are broadly higher Tuesday afternoon, with investors indulging in some buying in the resources, defense and banking sectors ahead of the upcoming New Year holidays.
Trading volumes remain light, but the major markets have kept edging gradually higher after a steady start.
While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both up by 0.6 percent.
In the German market, Rheinmetall moved up 2.5 percent. Infineon climbed 2.7 percent. Bayer, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Brenntag, Siemens and Continental gained 1 to 1.7 percent.
In Paris, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole gained 1.8 percent, 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectiely.
Hermes International, Edenred, STMicroElectronics, Dassault Systemes, ArcelorMittal, Airbus and Sanofi moved up 1 to 1.2 percent.
In the UK market, miners Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc and Antofagasta gained 5.6 percent, 2.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Glencore, Rio Tinto and Endeavour Mining also moved up sharply.
Bank stocks Barclays, Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and Natweat Group moved up by 1 to 1.5 percent.
Airtel Africa, St. James's Place, Melrose Industries, Babcock International Group, JD Sports Fashion and Shcroders were among the other notable gainers.
DCC drifted down by about 2 percent. Experian, Convatec Group, Relx, IAG, Compass Group and Intertek Group also traded weak.
U.S. Economic News
Standard & Poor's is scheduled to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of October at 9 am ET. The annual rate of home price growth is expected to slow to 1.1 percent in October from 1.4 percent in September.
At 9:45 am ET, MNI Indicators is due to release its report on Chicago-area business activity in the month of December. The Chicago business barometer is expected to rise to 39.5 in December from 36.3 in November, but a reading below 50 would still indicate contraction.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its December 9-10 monetary policy meeting at 2 pm ET.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.