U.S. Stocks Likely To Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading

Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to move back to the upside in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 141 points.

The upward momentum may partly reflect optimism about corporate earnings news ahead of the release of a number of big-name companies this week.

Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald’s (MCD), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Boeing (BA), Pfizer (PFE), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Intel (INTC) are among just a few of the companies due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

CME Group’s FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 77.5 percent chance of a 75 basis point interest rate hike and a 22.5 percent chance of a 100 basis point rate hike.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on consumer confidence, new home sales, durable goods orders, second quarter GDP and personal income and spending.

After turning in a mixed performance early in the session, the major U.S. stock indexes all moved to the downside over the course of the trading day on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower and was eventually joined in negative territory by the Dow.

The major averages all closed in the red, although the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts by a wide margin. While the Nasdaq tumbled by 225.50 points or 1.9 percent to 11,834.11, the S&P 500 slumped 37.32 points or 0.9 percent to 3,961.63 and the Dow fell by 137.61 points or 0.4 percent at 31,899.29.

With the pullback on the day, the major averages gave back ground after ending Thursday’s trading at their best closing levels in over a month but still posted strong gains for the week.

For the week, the Nasdaq spiked by 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged by 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped by 2.0 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $1.43 to $96.13 a barrel after tumbling $1.65 to $94.70 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after climbing $14 to $1,727.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $4.60 to $1,722.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 136.63 yen versus the 136.12 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0237 compared to last Friday’s $1.0213.

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