U.S. Market Futures Pointing Higher with Positive Earnings Outlook

U.S. stock futures are pointing higher Tuesday after small gains Monday. The Dow Futures are up 13 points to 17,677.0. The S&P 500 Futures are up 0.25 points to 2,063.0. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4,378.5, up 3.25 points. The Russell Futures are showing a gain of 0.30 points at 1,113.9.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, China’s Shanghai Composite was down -7.18 points or -0.25 percent to 2,843.68. Japan’s Nikkei was up 186.40 points or 1.13 percent to 16,652.80. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 120.38 points or 0.47 percent to 25,773.61 and the NSE Nifty was up 30.00 points or 0.38 percent to 7,890.75. In Europe the FTSE 100 is at 6,186.01 for a gain of 34.61 points or 0.56 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 9,968.27 for a gain of 15.37 points or 0.15 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4,317.16 for a gain of 4.88 points or 0.11 percent.

Tuesday’s Factors and Events

There are a number of economic events on the calendar for today. Data releases include the Consumer Price Index, housing starts and industrial production. The afternoon will also include Federal Reserve speeches from John Williams and Robert Kaplan.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Home Depot reported its earnings before the bell, beating estimates for both revenue and earnings per share. Revenue was $22.76 billion, beating estimates by $410 million and increasing 9.0 percent from the comparable quarter. Earnings per share were $1.44, beating estimates by $0.09. On Monday, the stock traded higher, up 2.24 points or 1.68 percent to $135.37.

Untitled

Source: Home Depot. Google Finance.

In pre-market trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average companies Apple, Wal-Mart and Verizon are trading actively. Wal-Mart will report earnings later in the week along with Cisco.

Monday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes regained some of their losses from last week yesterday despite some disappointing manufacturing data and weakening reports in China. On Monday, the Empire State Manufacturing Index reported a decrease of -9.02, below consensus of 7.00. In China, industrial output increased by only 6 percent year-over-year in April, below estimates of 6.6 percent and less than the previous month’s reading of 6.8 percent. Retail sales in China were also lower than expected with a year-over-year increase of 10.1 percent in April, down from 10.5 percent in March. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,710.71 for a gain of 175.39 points or 1.00 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 2,066.66 for a gain of 20.05 points or 0.98 percent. The Nasdaq Composite was also higher at 4,775.46 for a gain of 57.78 points or 1.22 percent.

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, closing at 1,116.21 for a gain of 13.77 points or 1.25 percent; the S&P 600 closing at 684.15 for a gain of 6.85 points or 1.01 percent; the Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closing at 6,832.15 for a gain of 84.63 points or 1.25 percent; the Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM closing at 8,133.81 for a gain of 77.43 points or 0.96 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1,454.78 for a gain of 14.18 points or 0.98 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1,215.56 for a gain of 12.03 points or 1.0 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 588.44 for a gain of 3.94 points or 0.67 percent.